My Heroic Drabbles
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Stories that might make full status for My Hero Academia. Hope this turns out as good as my other drabble bunny farms!
1. Accidental Rewrite Chapter One

**And so begins the newest set of drabbles!**

* * *

All Might couldn't help the incredible amount of guilt realizing he had dropped the bottle with the slime villain. However, his time limit was already up, so he would have great difficulty dealing with the villain without doing some considerable damage to himself.

Seeing the boy he rescued from this same villain earlier bolt past the heroes, he couldn't help but watch.

What happened next threw everyone off.

The boy lightly tapped something under his shirt.

The second he got within a certain distance of the villain, the sludge fell away. It was clear that this wasn't the doing of the villain if his surprised shrieks was any indication. The teen promptly slammed his fist into the other teen's stomach, causing him to throw up.

"Goddammit Deku! What the hell was that for you bastard?!"

"You were suffocating on that sludge. Unless you really want to ingest whatever gross crap that villain was made up with."

The teen looked rather scathingly at the heroes.

"You're welcome to collect this creep any time now, you know!" he said loudly.

All Might watched in disbelief as some of the heroes backed off immediately when their quirks abruptly stopped working when they got close to the teen.

All Might subtly moved to the side where the heroes were already giving the teen a lecture for jumping in like that. Something told him to pull out his phone and record this, so he did.

He would not be disappointed and would be saving this video for later viewing.

"Excuse me? Bakugo was _suffocating_ while you lot were busy pretending to be heroes! I refuse to be present at a funeral I could have _prevented_ just because the heroes were taking their sweet time to save the hostage!"

"You should have waited!" said Kamui, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at the expression on the teen's face.

"For what? For another hero to show up and do your damn job?" snarked the teen. "He was on the verge of blacking out and being smothered to death because none of you had the balls to try and come up with a half-assed plan to free him! Endeavor is five blocks away and by the time he bothered to come here, Bakugo would already be dead! Unlike you idiots, I happen to live two blocks away from his house and my mom happens to be friends with his! I would have had to deal with the guilt of knowing her son was dead and I could have done something to save him!"

"Nobody asked you to save me, stupid Deku?"

"Shut up Bakugo. Unless you want me to remind you why the teachers quit trying to do more than suspend me for a day every time your ego gets too big," the teen shot back. Bakugo glowered at him.

"Um...how did you stop that villain?" asked Mt. Lady.

"And why shouldn't we charge you with vigilantism right now?" said Kamui, feeling a bit sour at being chewed out by a civilian.

All Might watched in disbelief as the teen pulled out a card.

"I have a personal defense device on me. And no, you can't have it. Also, the only real thing I did was punch Bakugo to make sure he didn't swallow any of that crap by accident with the villain unable to smother him anymore."

"What's this?" said Mt. Lady, confused.

"The law allowing civilians to own personal defense devices specifically designed against quirks, provided that they only have a passive effect," said the teen smugly. "And your claim of vigilantism wouldn't hold up in court and you'd be laughed out of any precinct you tried to take me to. Not even the school principal could do anything against me for using it in class."

Kamui seethed. All Might was in disbelief that the teen had a _card_ printed up that allowed him to have some sort of device that would protect him from quirks.

And the boy was right...the only thing he actually _did_ was hit the other teen to make him throw up the sludge. He didn't actually lay a _finger_ on the sludge villain or do anything to him outside of using a device that neutralized his quirk.

Then he noticed the teen wasn't finished with the heroes.

"Frankly it's no wonder All Might is overworked, if this the best you can do. He has to keep picking up your slack because you never step up and actually _do _your job," said the teen scathingly.

"You're not seriously comparing us to the Symbol of Peace?" said Kamui incredulous. "There's no way we can beat him!"

"No, I'm saying that maybe you lot should start stepping up on your game for once. Your showing was absolutely terrible and you were all flailing your arms around against a villain because you were too close minded to actually try something to free the hostage that was literally dying in front of you," he said bluntly. "Heroes are more than just flashy quirks. Being a hero means being in a situation where the odds are against you and having the courage to get up and try something to turn that around anyway, even if it has a chance of failing. Why don't you try doing what's right instead of taking the easy way out?"

All Might saved the video...and mentally made a note to track that boy down later.

He had found his successor.

* * *

Izuku had long since come to terms with the fact that the experiment with a time-based quirk that had exploded had sent him into his past self.

On the downside, he had to go through puberty twice and had to go through getting his license all over again.

On the plus side, he still had his memories and more importantly the knowledge of how to even the odds against people who actually _had_ quirks.

One of his greatest regrets was the fact that he was so powerless to save Bakugo from that slime villain because the device he had created to neutralize quirks wasn't around then. Being able to save that arrogant idiot's life was something he would never regret.

It had been the driving reason why he worked on so many devices and gadgets to deal with villains even though he was quirkless. He ended up becoming the only pro hero without a quirk and was damn proud of that fact.

At least this time he had a proper head start on becoming a hero again. He actually got the martial arts training he needed last time, most of his gadgets were made and a few were even patented which brought in a lot of money since other heroes were using them, and this time he was brave enough to speak up and make Bakugo back down when his ego got out of control.

His plan was to enter UA through the support hero program, then make his way into the hero class through the sports festival. He hadn't known the first time that it was possible to be 'promoted' to the hero class from the showing made at the Sports Festival until Aizawa-sensei told him while he was training him in martial arts.

Aizawa was probably going to give him a long lecture about jumping in like that, but he didn't really care.

Izuku was so busy planning on how to explain this to his martial arts teacher that he was completely caught off guard when All Might appeared before him.

On an unrelated note, he finally had an answer to a mystery that had been bugging him for years about why All Might and his secretary had identical birthdays and why they died the exact same day.

"You want me to inherit _your_ quirk?" said Izuku stunned.

He vaguely recalled the hero who took over for All Might, and had never been impressed with him. He had no idea that the quirk his favorite hero had was something that had been _passed_ to him from another!

Well...he had already come to terms with the fact he wasn't going to let the past happen as it did the first time when he started making his gadgets. And to be honest, this was an opportunity he would be an idiot to pass up.

* * *

_Some time later..._

Toshinori was slightly confused by the irritated look on Aizawa's face. Hizashi looked more amused than anything.

"What's this I hear about you training _my_ student?"

"Eraser's jealous!" cackled Hizashi.

"What do you mean, your student?" asked Toshinori.

"You picked Izuku as your successor, right?" asked Hizashi. He nodded. "Shouta's been training Izuku in martial arts since he was nine, and I've been helping the kid test out his little gadgets since he was nine and a half."

"You mean like whatever it was he used to deal with that sludge villain?" asked Toshinori intently.

Hizashi looked gleeful.

"He calls it the 'Eraser Kitty'. It's like a wide-area version of Eraser's quirk, just in device form. Once that thing is activated, all quirks are basically nullified around it. Outside of physical ones like tails and the like. He has a few of those made, and from the police report Eraser got, he probably used the mid-range one."

"He could make a fortune with those," said Toshinori.

"He already does," said Aizawa. "He owns the patent to the disposable one that most of the police have been using, though he refuses to hand over the stronger ones."

"Why?"

"They're his trump card for when he gets into the support class," said Hizashi. "Izuku's planning to get promoted from the support class into the hero through the sports festival because he doesn't have a quirk to let him jump right into the hero class from the Entrance exam."

It was a plan that was almost certain to work, because weapons weren't allowed in the entrance exam...which Aizawa always found rather ridiculous because some quirks that would be perfect for hero work sometimes didn't work that effectively against the robots used in the exams. Like his, for instance.

"I don't want to impose on your student," said Toshinori.

"It's fine. Izuku is a _major_ fan of All Might anyway, so this was probably a dream come true. Shouta's just jealous because it means less time with his favorite student," said Hizashi.

"I am not jealous! I'm just concerned what sort of training he plans to do, considering it might conflict with the training he already does with me!" snapped Aizawa. He was jealous, he just didn't want to admit it out loud.

He had no idea Izuku was already training with another hero. Besides, this was the first time he had trained anyone, so maybe having another hero's help in getting Izuku's body ready to handle One for All wouldn't be too bad.

Aizawa took one look at the training schedule and immediately saw several flaws. For one thing, it would conflict with the training he did with Izuku in martial arts. For another, it was based on getting someone who's stats were much, much lower than Izuku's to a certain level of physical stamina.

Between the three of them they were able to come up with a far more reasonable work-out schedule.

Izuku would be sore as hell, but as long as he followed the regimen they created he would be able to handle One for All at least a full month before the actual entrance exam for the hero class.

At least if he was unable to handle the practicals for the hero exam, he'd still have a chance to go support like he originally planned.

Though Toshinori did put up a token protest when they dragged him to the Midoriya home for dinner.

"Knowing Izuku, he's already come up with a plausible explanation for why you took an interest in him and why he suddenly developed a quirk so late. So shut up and socialize," said Aizawa grumpily.

As it turned out, Izuku_ had_ come up with a good cover story for why he would be spending time around Toshinori and by extension All Might that wouldn't raise any eyebrows. He also had an explanation for why he suddenly gained a quirk.

Officially, Toshinori had come to meet the "super fan" who had sent a rather thoughtful letter to All Might's hero office asking if it was possible to intern with him. Toshinori happened to be present during the whole Sludge incident and had been impressed by Izuku's courage, and had recognized signs that Izuku's quirk developed late like All Might. He brought Izuku to All Might's attention and Izuku was now an unpaid intern at All Might's hero office while he got training to fully awaken his latent quirk in time to hopefully attend UA.

All perfectly logical and a reasonable explanation that would stand up to most scrutiny while hiding the truth behind One for All and why Izuku would be spending a lot of time around a grown man he had only just met. He was a minor after all.

Hizashi looked at Aizawa with amusement.

"So when do you think Izuku will tell All Might the truth about where he came up with those toys of his?" he asked.

"Who knows?" said Aizawa. And he didn't really care either way. He still had trouble believing that Izuku had gotten caught up in an experiment with a time-based quirk that blew him all the way into his past self.

If not for the personal knowledge that he knew damn well a child his age would never have been able to get otherwise, he never would have believed it in the first place. However Izuku had known specific details and personal information about Aizawa that only his closest friends knew, despite the fact it was their first meeting. He also knew Hizashi never would have divulged that information to a _kid_.

* * *

Bakugo was _livid_ that he had to be saved by Deku, and it only got worse when he found out that the quirkless kid in his class was receiving _actual_ training from All Might after the hero's secretary recognized his latent quirk for what it was.

About the only saving grace he had was the fact Deku wasn't the type to brag about his training or the fact he saved him with those stupid toys.

However deep down Bakugo could at least admit to himself that if Izuku _hadn't_ intervened when he did, there was a high chance he would have died. He had been on the verge of blacking out completely when Izuku used that annoying toy of his to force the sludge villain to let him go. Considering the pro heroes were openly doing jack squat at the time, and were waiting for another hero with a quirk that could actual effect the sludge bastard, he would admit he was slightly grateful.

Even if he was still pissed about the punch to the gut. Though he would also admit he could understand why Deku had done it...the thought of swallowing any of that crap made him want to throw up anyway.

The thing he didn't get was when the hell did _Deku_ of all people get so strong? He could still remember the power behind that hit, and it was hard for him to reconcile the idea of the quirkless kid in his class being that strong.

Any other time, Deku would use that annoying toy of his to turn off his quirk before trapping him with some wires. Bakugo had learned the hard way that the teachers wouldn't do anything about it because Deku apparently had _video_ of Bakugo starting the fight and the only thing he did was finish it in a way that wouldn't actually harm him.

The teachers were more worried about being sued for the other things on the video, and had frantically searched for the hidden cameras Deku had put up because he wanted evidence that he was being deliberately harassed by the school.

The principal was sweating big time when Deku played those videos, before calmly and rather viciously pointing out all the ways any half-decent lawyer would rip the school's reputation to shreds with it.

And the teachers couldn't confiscated the discreet bodycams because not only did they have no idea what it looked like, but any attempts to make a new rule against them would have them dealing with the courts.

Deku was the weirdest kid he had ever met, but the fact was that he was also the most cunning.

It still pissed him off that the quirkless kid was able to kick his ass and kept him from being the top dog of his school though.


	2. Cheshire Chapter One

Hizashi knew something was up with his buddy. Eraserhead had been acting decidedly off for the better part of a month.

Which was why he decided to crash his friend's apartment to see if he couldn't snoop and find clues as to what was going on.

The last thing he expected to find was a _kid_ in the apartment. With familiar messy black hair and crimson colored eye staring at him.

The little boy was positively adorable, and made him think rather strongly of a chibi Aizawa with kitty features and crimson eyes. His right eye was partially covered by his bangs, but the left one was perfectly visible. He was in second-hand clothing that looked relatively clean and there was an intelligence behind his gaze that was almost unnerving in a child.

When Aizawa came into the room, he looked a mixture of annoyed and slightly relieved.

Mostly annoyance though.

"What's with the kid?"

What Aizawa said next almost made him faint from shock.

"He's my son."

Hizashi could tell this was going to be a long, awkward night...

_Some time later..._

The boy's name was Haruhi, and he was the product of a drunken one night stand. Somehow the woman managed to track Eraserhead down and more or less forced him to take the kid in because she couldn't handle having him around anymore.

After being subjected to rather unnerving stare down that reminded him far too much of his more tempermental cats, he could partially understand why. When the test came back that Aizawa was the boy's biological father, he gained full custody of Haruhi.

That had been less than two months ago, and he was still having trouble adjusting to the life of a single father.

No wonder his friend was so out of sorts. He had never thought about having kids before, so having a son dumped on his lap like this was enough to throw him off his game big time. Worse, he had no idea how to handle a toddler who was too smart for his own good.

The kid knew how to undo _actual locks_. Baby gates weren't going to cut it in the least, never mind the fact he could apparently make actual cat claws that would allow him to climb over them.

Hizashi almost dreaded to see if the kid developed anything else once he turned four.

As it stood, Aizawa had been mostly managing this entire mess by treating the kid as another one of his cats.

Hizashi couldn't help but feel sorry for his long time friend. That being said he reserved the right to tease him for years after this once they were able to settle into a routine.

Hizashi went eye level with the kid.

"Hey Haruhi-kun. I'm your Uncle Hizashi," he said patting the kid on the head.

Haruhi tilted his head like a cat.

"Uncle?" he said, before looking to his dad. It was ridiculously cute. Aizawa made a slight nod, so the boy seemed to accept the idea.

"That's right," he said gently. The kid was way too quiet for his age, not to mention calm.

He wasn't sure if it was the kid's natural disposition or if being dumped on his dad had made him a bit shy around adults. Though considering who his dad was, he probably inherited the stoic behavior from him anyway.

Haruhi seemed to settle in a bit better after Hizashi watched him long enough for his friend to explain to the principal the full change in circumstances.

Teachers weren't paid much, and kids needed a lot of attention during their early years. Aizawa did want to bond with his son, but it was slightly difficult when he had to teach a class.

Considering Haruhi was too young for kindergarten, the principal came up with a simple solution, one that was jumped upon rather enthusiastically by Aizawa's fellow teachers.

They could take turns watching Haruhi while Aizawa was in class. At least until he either found a babysitter or Haruhi became old enough to attend school himself. The women in particular took to the idea with great glee.

Amusingly enough, they were the most disappointed when Haruhi finally became old enough to attend school, thus freeing up their schedules again.

* * *

_Time skip, six years later..._

He stared down at the wall around UA. In his hand was a letter that he had been 'politely' asked to deliver to his father.

Closer inspection of the courier revealed a boy about ten or eleven years old, with mid-length messy black hair that went down past his neck. Around his neck was a thick black scarf that was made of roughly the same material as his father's personal weapon, though unlike his father his had rather large bells the size of his hands tied to the end of them. It made sneaking around difficult, but he liked the pleasant sound they made so that was okay. His right eye was obscured by his long black bangs, while the other was left exposed. He wore a dark shirt and dark pants, and his shoes were slightly odd in that they had small openings that allowed his claws out. He felt uncomfortable keeping them cramped inside of his shoes all the time. He wore fingerless black gloves that were made of rather stretchy material. To top it off was the black cat ears and the tail wrapped around his waist in lieu of a belt.

In short he looked remarkably like a younger, feline version of his father who he loved dearly.

The first time he wore his current outfit, his uncle had laughed himself into hiccups and took so many pictures that his father had been unable to delete the evidence in time.

He fingered the letter in his pocket. He had been told to deliver the letter straight to his dad, but there was a large crowd of noisy adults in the way, not to mention the barrier prevented anyone without a student or teacher's ID to get inside.

He did have a phone, but his dad had made it clear he wasn't to call any of the first ten numbers during school hours unless it was an absolute emergency. And all ten of those people were inside and rather busy at the moment since the school year had just started.

He pouted...he didn't want to get in trouble for staying outside the barrier until someone noticed him, and he _really_ didn't want the noisy adults to notice him.

Much like his father, he disliked the 'press'. Though his dislike stemmed from how noisy and irritating they were...they made his poor ears hurt with their squawking.

He was about to give up and head home when he heard a weird sound. The noisy reporters became even louder from surprise, then excitement as the barrier suddenly had a hole in it.

Debating on what to do, his ears flattened from the racket.

He would likely get into a lot of trouble hanging outside the barrier, but if he could find Uncle Hizashi or his dad and deliver the letter, then he could go hide outside the main building until his dad came for him. Anything to get away from this horrible racket.

He darted inside, and soon enough Uncle Hizashi in his hero uniform showed up with some other teachers. He couldn't see his dad, but he had a clear path to his uncle.

It took him a few minutes to get past the noisy adults long enough to stuff the letter into Hizashi's pocket, before bolting to elsewhere on the school grounds...preferably far away from the noisy adults.

He found a nice tree to nap in until his dad came to look for him.

_A few hours later..._

"That was a complete mess and a half. How the hell did they get past the barrier?" said Hizashi exhausted.

"We'll find out soon enough," said Ishiyama.

"Hey, what's that in your pocket?" asked Midnight.

Hizashi looked...and found a crumpled up letter. Closer inspection revealed it was address to "Aizawa Shouta".

"What the... How did that get in my pocket? It wasn't there when we left the building to deal with the reporters!" said Hizashi confused.

"What is it?" asked Aizawa.

"Here, it's addressed to you. Wonder why they put it in my pocket," said Hizashi, handing it over.

Aizawa opened it up, and recognized the letterhead as the one from Haruhi's school. Wondering what his son had done now, he carefully opened it and started to read.

His face paled.

"You said this wasn't in your pocket until after we came out to deal with the reporters?" he said.

"Pretty sure," said Hizashi. He noticed his friend's expression. "What?"

"We need to find Haruhi. I think he's on school grounds," said Aizawa.

"What?! How? Why?" said Hizashi, already getting up.

It took them two hours, but they finally found Haruhi stuck up a tree. Toshinori was already looking rather distressed as he happened to notice the kid up there earlier and had been trying to coax him down for over an hour.

"Haruhi!" said Aizawa.

Haruhi flinched, but relaxed a bit.

"You know him?" asked Toshinori.

Aizawa was already climbing up the tree, scaling it rather easily and perching himself roughly near the same branch Haruhi was stuck on.

"Haruhi, why are you on school grounds?"

Haruhi's ears flattened, upset.

"The principal told me to deliver the letter. He said I wasn't allowed back at the school anymore. But the reporters were so noisy it hurt my ears, so I came here instead. I made sure uncle Hizashi got it though!"

"Haruhi, you need to come down and explain properly."

Haruhi looked visibly upset.

"I didn't mean to come in! The barrier was down and I didn't want to get in trouble with the police for being out of school!" he replied.

"You're not in trouble. I just want to sort this out properly before things get any more confusing," Aizawa said gently.

Haruhi stared him down, before he cautiously started to make his way down from the tree. Aizawa made sure to follow slowly behind him, and only dropped down once his son was out of the tree.

Haruhi kept close to his dad, as he didn't know Toshinori at all.

_Thirty minutes later..._

Nezu was slightly amused to see Haruhi again. However his presence was just another issue he had to deal with on top of the mess created when the reporters got through the barrier. Haruhi squirmed a bit under his gaze.

"So what seems to be the issue?" asked Nezu.

"According to this letter, Haruhi isn't welcome at his school anymore. Though they refuse to explain _why_," said Aizawa crossly. "I don't like the fact they told him he wasn't allowed on school grounds and that he had to deliver the letter, instead of calling me directly."

Nezu was already frowning.

He knew Haruhi. While he was a bit too catlike, he was a good child who would never do anything to disappoint his father. Reading the letter revealed nothing.

Haruhi sipped his tea quietly while Nezu called the other school. Whatever they revealed made him rather vexed with them.

"It would seem Haruhi took some advanced placement tests without permission," said Nezu.

"How does _that_ result in him being banned from the school?" said Aizawa irritable.

"The tests were for the senior year of high school and were geared towards getting the students ready for college-level courses," said Nezu.

"Are you telling me this entire mess was because he took the wrong tests?" said Hizashi incredulous.

"No, the problem is that he got a perfect score on all of them," said Nezu. "And the school he attends doesn't have any classes which are sufficiently advanced enough to properly challenge him."

Dead silence. Aizawa looked at his son in disbelief. He knew Haruhi had trouble with school, but this was the last thing he expected.

Nezu looked rather amused now.

"It would seem, Aizawa-sensei, that your son is a natural genius. One that might even rival my own ability if he's given the right courses."

As if to demonstrate his point, Nezu tossed Haruhi an expert-level logic puzzle that required skill and patience to solve. It was rather shiny as it was made of sturdy metal to prevent cheating.

Haruhi had it solved within five minutes, looking thoroughly entertained in the process. His father, on the other hand, looked like he had a migraine.

"So the problem is that Haruhi is too smart and the school isn't able to handle that?" said Hizashi.

"The school year just started. There's no way I'll be able to find him a new school at his own level _and_ handle my own student's," said Aizawa exasperated.

Haruhi's ears flattened.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

Aizawa sighed, and petted his son's ears. That seemed to calm him down as he started to purr, happy at the attention.

"No. It's just going to be a bit more irritating than normal for a while until we find out a new school for you to go to where you won't be bored to tears," said his father.

There was no way he was leaving Haruhi alone either...the kid would just play his games for hours on end and not bother to leave the apartment until he came back from work. He wasn't letting his son sit in the apartment all day.

"Haruhi could always stay at the school. So long as he doesn't interrupt classes, he can help the teachers out by helping to carry materials for their demonstrations or help out the support classes by testing their new equipment for them."

Aizawa made a face, but it was still a better alternative compared to leaving his son at home all day. Besides, the students weren't _that_ far off in age from his son and Haruhi always had trouble interacting with kids his own age.

Though at least now he knew _why_.

* * *

To be fair, it was only natural to assume that the kid in front of the bus was lost.

Iida, always eager to emulate his older brother, approached the boy first and was summarily brushed off. Before anyone else could figure out who the boy was, their teacher appeared.

"Sensei, there appears to be a lost child in front of the bus!" reported Iida.

Aizawa-sensei sighed.

"He's not lost," said Aizawa. "This is Haruhi. He's going to be joining us today, but he will not be participating in the exercise."

"Sir, why is there an eleven year old joining our lesson?" asked Iida.

Haruhi flatted his ears. Some of the girls wanted to stroke them to see if they were really as soft as they looked, but refrained.

Aizawa looked irritable.

"Because it's going to take another day for his visitor's pass to be made and there's no way I'm leaving him alone at home when all he'll do is play video games for hours," said Aizawa flatly.

Haruhi's ears twitched.

"Come on dad, I'm not that bad."

"The last time you were left at home sick, you spent the entire day playing online video games instead of actually resting," said Aizawa flatly.

Haruhi pouted.

However it was what Haruhi called their teacher that threw the students for a loop.

"Did he just call you _dad_?" said Bakugo incredulous.

Now that they were looking for it, the resemblance between their strict teacher and the pre-teen were pretty obvious. They looked really alike, even down to the way they were dressed.

"Sir, this is most irregular," said Iida. The obvious show of favoritism made him rather uncomfortable. He always saw Aizawa-sensei as a strict, but fair teacher.

"It's not dad's fault. The school said I wasn't welcome there anymore, so now he has to find a new place for me to go," said Haruhi unhappily, his tail twitching this way and that.

Now the students were really curious, but they were on a schedule.

"Everyone on the bus. If we don't hurry up we'll be late and I refuse to stand here while you gossip about my personal life when we should be heading to the facility already," said Aizawa flatly.

That got them to move, but there was little doubt that the kids would attempt to get the full story out of Haruhi on the ride there.

_A few minutes later..._

"Wait, so your school kicked you out because you aced some advanced placement tests meant for a high school student?" said Yaoyorozu incredulous.

Haruhi had relaxed and opened up after a bit, mostly because his dad was there to act as deterrent in case things got too much.

"They said they didn't have any classes I could take that would be challenging enough, so they told me not to come to school on Monday. But they forgot to call dad and tell him what happened, so there was a bit of a mix-up when I went to deliver the letter the principal told me to give him," said Haruhi, his ears flattening unhappily. "Those reporters were really noisy."

He purred happily when Izuku stroked his ears just right. They had found out really quickly that Haruhi was more in-tune with his feline instincts than most...he also seemed to take towards the green-haired teen the best, oddly enough.

Izuku didn't mind much...he treated Haruhi like an oversized kitten which seemed to help.

And as the girls were happy to find out...yes, Haruhi's ears _were_ as soft and fluffy as they looked.

Haruhi knew what his role in the upcoming exercise was going to be. He was to stay in the central area and find a place to take a cat nap or read from his tablet for the majority of the exercise, as he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Thirteen had already been alerted to the situation and agreed to ignore his presence since Aizawa vouched for his son.

As the bus slowly rolled into the parking lot, the students got ready to disembark.

They had no idea the sheer level of terrifying chaos about to occur.


	3. Crystalized Hope Chapter One

Hikari was beyond upset when she saw her hero uniform. Mostly because it took all of two seconds to register that she had apparently sent the _wrong_ sketch in.

Before All Might appeared in her life and offered her a chance to be a hero, giving her some much needed confidence, she had been planning to go pro as an ice skater.

It was a career that guaranteed to put her as far away from that jerk Bakugo and pretty much insured their paths would never cross again.

The sketch that had apparently been sent to the hero support companies for production wasn't her hero costume.

It was the _ice skating_ costume she had designed for when she got enough sponsors to afford one she liked.

"Something wrong?" asked Yaoyorozu.

"I sent the wrong sketch in," she said. She suddenly remembered the other girl's quirk. "Would it be possible for you to make a coat or something?"

"Why? Is the design too racy?" asked Mina grinning.

"Not really, but the second Bakugo sees it I know he'll be a complete ass about it and I would rather avoid that until my actual costume gets made," said Hikari miserably.

Yaoyorozu eyed her for a moment. She knew peripherally that Hikari and Bakugo were classmates from before, but the way she said that spoke of an underlying issue.

"Sure. How long do you want it to be and what color?"

"Enough to cover the costume and if possible blue," said Hikari with relief.

"Can we at least see what it looks like while she makes the coat?" asked Ochako. "It can't be that bad right?"

Hikari winced, but she nodded. These girls weren't as easily influenced by Bakugo and had so far proven to be moderately friendly.

She walked into the stall and changed into the outfit. When she came out, everyone was staring.

"Wow! You look like an ice skater!" said Ochako enthusiastically.

"I should hope so, considering that was my original back-up plan in case I didn't make it into UA and this was the sketch I drew for when I got enough sponsors to afford it," said Hikari, glad none of them were making fun of her outfit.

"Here," said Yaoyorozu.

Hikari gratefully covered up the outfit. At least now she wouldn't hear Bakugo's snide comments about it, considering every time she tried to do anything feminine he would mock her horribly for it.

By the end of the lesson, Hikari would be on the verge of crying even though they beat the 'villain' team and the girls would unanimously agree Bakugo was the absolute worst and only beat out Mineta due to the fact he wasn't a rampant pervert.

Hikari never did get around to fixing the mix-up with her uniform.

* * *

Recovery Girl was not amused and it showed on her face. So much so that she made sure All Might was present (in his real form) when she went to lecture the girl and made sure that idiot Toshinori knew how serious this was.

"You have been in here for severe injuries twice in as many days. Why are you not using your natural quirk?" she demanded.

"Natural quirk?" repeated Toshinori. He looked at a squirming Hikari. "You mean she isn't quirkless?"

"Her body temperature is too low to be normal...unless she has an elemental-based quirk," said Recovery Girl flatly. "I've seen it often enough to recognize the signs of one, more recently in young Todoroki. Now why are you using All Might's quirk in class instead of your own when you barely have any idea how to activate it without injury?"

"I don't want to be branded a killer!" she blurted out, confusing the teachers.

"A killer?" repeated Toshinori alarmed.

"What happened?"

"My quirk...when it first appeared I accidentally froze our neighbor's cat solid and it shattered when I dropped it. She was so upset that she spent the next year and a half trying to find out who did it, and even convinced a pro hero to look into what happened. Eventually she moved away but every time the subject was brought up she called the one who killed her cat a monster and a murderer. I didn't want to lose my only chance at being a hero because of my quirk!" said Hikari miserably.

The two heroes shared a Look.

"Was that the only time that happened?"

She shook her head.

"Some crow decided to come after me once, and I froze it solid while it was still flying. It shattered on the ground and when it melted there was blood all over the ground," said Hikari miserably.

"Does your mother know about this?" asked Toshinori gently.

"She knew hearing about the cat really upset me, but she doesn't know I have a quirk," said Hikari.

Recovery Girl made a note to inquire about the incident from the girl's mother. If she was telling the truth then this was a simple matter of trauma that could be corrected with a bit of therapy and training.

Toshinori pulled his student into a hug, which she accepted. It was clear even talking about it upset her.

"If you did accidentally hurt someone, then it was an accident not murder," said Toshinori. "A newly minted quirk has the worst control and there's no way you could have killed the animal on purpose. It's not your fault."

Seeing the faint hope in her eyes, Recovery Girl added her own bit.

"We don't brand people murderers for accidents. Especially children who woke up their quirks with _incredibly_ bad timing involved. I highly doubt the police or other heroes would charge you if they knew the full story."

"I think the neighbor knew who did it anyway. She made a point of always bringing it up whenever I was in earshot," said Hikari miserably. "After the fifth time Mom quit talking to her and made it clear she wasn't welcome near our home or around me."

"I'm slating you for therapy," said Recovery Girl flatly. "You still need training in how to use the quirk All Might gave you, and there's no way the school would allow you out in the field as a pro hero if you don't have training for _both_ of your quirks, if only to prevent accidents."

Hikari winced. But Recovery Girl wasn't finished.

"I'm not saying you have to use your original quirk right away, but I expect to see _some_ progress by the time the Sports Festival comes around. However we do need to update your files since yours are incomplete."

"I thought the Quirk Registry didn't allow major changes?" said Toshinori.

"Normally they don't, however there have been cases where children hide their ability due to trauma and if her story checks out then we can update her file. It hasn't been used in a long time, but there are protocols for this sort of thing. So long as we can legitmately prove she has two quirks, there shouldn't be any problems."

* * *

Hikari was incredibly nervous...this would be the first time she had properly used her actual quirk since the crow incident.

"Take your time Miss Midoriya. I'm sure Aizawa-sensei can help if anything goes wrong and Recovery Girl is right here as well," said Nezu.

It wouldn't be the first time someone had trouble controlling their quirk from a past trauma and it sadly wouldn't be the last. He was surprised her ability had gone unnoticed for so long, though considering her personality it was likely the bullying issue they had uncovered had only compounded things.

Hikari took a deep breath...and decided to start off slow.

She froze the entire floor solid with an inch of ice, turning the room into an instant skating rink.

She went through her usual paces, including giving herself skates which she then used to direct the ice she made into pillars and other objects, and it one noteable case a ramp that she did a flip on.

"I thought you said she didn't have training," said Aizawa, impressed in spite of himself.

"It would seem her trauma is mostly based on using it around others, not in private," said Nezu. "That makes things easier...once we get her used to actually showing off in front of larger crowds, she may be able to overcome her fears."

Aizawa wasn't so sure...he had been watching the interaction with Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Hikari and he could only describe it as 'caustic'. Every time Midoriya attempted to break away from her tomboy exterior, Bakugo would without fail make some sort of unpleasant comment about it as if the idea of her being a girl offended him in some way.

The worst of the original trauma had a chance to fade when the neighbor moved away, though being harassed for being 'quirkless' was another issue. Considering the emphasis the teachers had placed on Bakugo's explosive quirk and her disinclination to outdo her friend for fear of his reaction, she had been forced to train in secret. Add in the abusive way Bakugo treated his 'friend' and it was a disaster waiting to happen.

"She's a good skater though," said Present Mic impressed. "She's easy pro-level with those moves."

"It would make training her quirk a lot easier since making an ice floor to use would be both discreet and good control," said Aizawa.

"We do need to see the extent of her ability though," said Nezu.

Apparently she heard him, because what she did next was both impressive and slightly amusing.

Mostly because it became abundantly clear what her favorite movie of all time was.

All Might looked at the ice palace, scaled down due to the fact they were indoors.

"Isn't this the ice palace from _Frozen_?" he said amused.

"I do believe it is," said Nezu, equally amused. "I also believe we've solved a mystery from around the time the movie originally came out."

There were quite a few people who wanted to know who had managed to recreate Elsa's icy palace in almost perfect detail and a few artistic additives. The palace itself stayed up for a full month before the heroes with fire quirks (noteably Endeavor) were forced to melt the thing because of one too many accidents where parts had begun falling off due to the warming temperatures.

Endeavor was still pissed about having to waste his quirk on what he considered a frivolous use of powers and had been in a sour mood for weeks because of it.

(His son, on the other hand, had loved it. Not that he would admit as such...it was lucky Endeavor hadn't noticed _him_ trying to recreate the ice palace before the full-sized thing suddenly appeared almost out of nowhere.)

"I do believe we have a name for her quirk. The Ice Queen," said Present Mic grinning.

"After the movie?" said All Might, he grinned at the exhausted form of his student. "I suppose it fits, plus it's clear she's a fan so it might amuse her enough not to hide it so much."

"Though this does make me wonder..." said Present Mic. Everyone looked at him. "Does she know the song that goes with the ice palace by heart at this point and did she sing it when she made that one that got Endeavor so pissed off?"

(As it turned out, yes she did know the song and yes she did sing it when she made the ice palace.)

_A few days later..._

As it turned out, the training All Might had in mind for the quirk he gave her was simple sparring practice. While she could _use_ One for All, the simple fact was that she had no ability to regulate it properly.

She kept overpowering her attacks, which was why she always ended up injured.

To that end she had to spar with All Might until she got the ratio of control and power down properly. It had taken her a few years to get used to controling her ice quirk before she was able to do things like the palace after all.

At least she was finally able to do some tricks that she always wanted to try, but couldn't because she didn't want anyone to know about her ice powers. Seeing All Might's face when she made that massive 'glove' of ice around her fist when she went to punch him was incredibly gratifying.

Ironically enough, learning to mix the two powers made it a lot easier to get the control aspect to One for All down. She was used to regulating her quirk so that she could use it from anywhere on her body, and that helped her to shift her mindset into treating One for All the same way.

All Might was incredibly proud that she was able to overcome that roadblock... mostly from the sheer tongue-lashing Recovery Girl gave him for not training her in how to use her new quirk correctly.

* * *

Aizawa was in an empty training room while Midoriya trained her quirk and practiced her ice skating moves. Considering the most she would be doing was some advanced ice skating moves while playing music both of them could agree with while occasionally making sudden ramps or other obstacles, he felt it safe enough to do grading while looking up every once in a while to check on her progress.

Midoriya had made an ice table and he had swiped one of the chairs from the staff room before they entered, so he could grade in relative peace while 'supervising'.

He checked the time.

"One last set and we're done for the day."

"Yes, sensei," Midoriya called out.

She had just started a rather complicated manuever when the door opened without warning.

Todoroki Shouta had come to investigate the music, having come to the school to find something he had left behind in class. Seeing Midoriya's ice skating surprised him that he couldn't help but call out.

With the absolute worst timing possible, as it distracted her at the wrong time causing her to trip over her feet and land wrong. Aizawa was heading towards her in an instand, his spiked boots allowing him to get decent traction on the slippery surface.

"Ow..." she said, before her hand immediately went to her right ankle.

Todoroki was skidding a bit on the ice until he reached them.

"I am so sorry about that," he said sincerely. Even he could tell it was his fault for distracting her.

"Sprained ankle," said Aizawa. He sent a text to Hizashi (Present Mic) to see if Recovery Girl was still in the building. He got a text back stating she had already gone home for the day. "Todoroki, melt a path so I can take her to the nurse's office. We'll have to bind the ankle until tomorrow when Recovery Girl returns. I expect you to visit her first thing before you even come to class."

He carefully picked her up and they walked to the nurse's office. It took him fifteen minutes to bind the ankle, and Hizashi drove her home.

Todoroki felt incredibly guilty about it, but he knew it was an accident and that Midoriya would be fine tomorrow morning.


	4. Eclipsed Heroics Chapter One

The first time he took note of the name "Eclipse", was when a pair of letters arrived at his official office.

The first one he could have dismissed as basic fan mail, as it was address to All Might. However it was the second letter that made him actually pay attention to the contents.

Inside was a rather heart-felt letter to "Toshinori Yagi" thanking him for putting up with all the headaches that came with being All Might's secretary and a sincere wish that he continued to support the number one hero from the shadows.

There was also a link to a website that when he brought it up, had his actual picture on it with a similar letter. He wasn't the only one on there (he recognized Endeavor's secretary, among others), but his attention swiftly went to the tab labeled "Hero Statistics".

Whoever made the site had a surprisingly well informed list of heroes (including those who worked from the shadows) along with a basic analysis of their quirks, their strengths and a rather decent list of cases that they had either been a part of or had personally resolved.

When he checked the tab listed under All Might, he found several on the list that most of his fans either didn't know about or had swept under the rug because it was from his early hero days. Whoever made it must be a die hard fan. There was even a copy of the video from his first official appearance as a hero.

As he skimmed through the website, a new posting came up. Clicking on it, he found a new profile being listed for a recent UA graduate that was making their big debut as a pro hero.

According to the site's rules, all new pro heroes were given a "five case leeway" before the admin posted a ranking for them along with a general statistic list.

Remembering that there had been two letters, Toshinori dug through the fan mail and found the second one addressed to All Might.

Any doubts that he was dealing with a dedicated fan went away. Whoever wrote the letter was a true admirer of his, and had even posted a thoughtful mention of his 'secretary' by politely suggesting that the hero give the poor man a desperately needed vacation as the pictures they had seen suggested he was working a little too hard. With the additive that he go on vacation as well, if only to give the new graduates a chance to shine and give himself a break before he burned out.

It brought to mind the fact he hadn't had a proper vacation in three years, and the idea had some merit.

And there were a few 'hero-only' beaches he knew of but never had a chance to visit. It might take some doing, but the reward would be worth it.

He had no idea the idle comment he made to Endeavor after an interview about the site would cause it's popularity to surge to the point _everyone_ was talking about it after he got back from his much needed vacation.

Endeavor ended up looking up the site himself and for once wasn't pissed about always coming in second to All Might in the popularity polls.

All Might might be ranked as the "number one popular hero", but Endeavor was listed as "the Number One Hero's Office". They had a list of statistics for all registered heroes that were attached to his office, as well as case resolution, efficiency, ability, and number of villains safely arrested without injury.

All Might's office was listed as the seventh best, which made Endeavor rather happy overall. It was nice to know _someone_ appreciated his efforts and wasn't completely blinded by All Might.

With two of the top heroes showing interest and open approval of the same website, which had been little more than a blog, interest _ exploded_.

One day it shut down for a whole week...and when it came back up, it was completely refurbished into something that was new and refreshing, while still maintaining the original purpose of it.

Though one question remained...just who was Eclipse?

* * *

Toshinori felt more than a little unhappy that he was about to expose his secret to a young woman who was clearly a fan of his. It was hard to bring hope to people when you went from someone like All Might to a man that looked like he was half in his grave.

"No way... All Might's _secretary_ is actually the hero himself?!" she said in disbelief.

"Fan of the Eclipse website?" he asked.

The letters to the secretaries had remained on the site, but the picture that had been on it was an old one.

She seemed to debate something for a moment, before she said something that shocked him almost as much as he had shocked her when he turned back into his true form.

"Actually I'm the mystery admin Eclipse," she admitted.

Toshinori stared.

"You're Eclipse?"

"I wrote two letters to your office. One thanking your 'secretary' for putting up with the inevitable headaches of being the shield for the number one hero and a second one to 'All Might' suggesting that both of you take a vacation before you burned out," she replied. "The return address listed was to a post office box that was closed after two months once the letters were sent."

Toshinori was convinced she was telling the truth. A few of the heroes wanted to meet the mystery sender, especially after the website's popularity exploded thanks to him and Endeavor taking a strong interest in it, only to find out that the return address was a post office box that closed shortly after the letters had been sent.

As a result, no one knew exactly who Eclipse was or what they looked like.

Only a select handful would have known those details.

"Why did you start the site?"

"I might be quirkless, but that didn't stop my love of heroes. You were always my favorite hero growing up, and even when the doctor rather bluntly told me to give up on my dream of being a pro hero like you, that didn't stop me from wanting to show my appreciation for them however I could. The website was mostly a way for me to keep all my notes down about the heroes I watched help others...I never expected it to take off like it did."

"Who does the hero analysis then?" asked Toshinori. He knew for a _fact_ that UA sent their student rosters to a seperate website run by Eclipse to get their opinion, and that several of the pro heroes had actually benefitted from the analysis sent back by Eclipse. Whoever wrote the results was very good at picking apart individual quirks and giving solid ideas on how to improve themselves and pointing out minor errors that could be corrected. Some of the comments made could only have come from watching said heroes first hand, or at least the videos of them repeatedly.

"I do everything by myself. Very few people want to be near a 'quirkless loser' after all, since it's clear I won't be doing anything important later. And the teachers are more concerned about promoting the few students with 'outstanding' or 'flashy' quirks into top schools like UA to bother dealing with the obvious bullying," Eclipse.

Toshinori winced slightly at that. From the sound of things, Eclipse hadn't had an easy childhood at all.

"What's your real name?" he asked.

"Midoriya Hikari."

Toshinori felt like he should discourage her from the pro hero path. But something stopped him. Maybe it was the way she spoke about how her teachers never bothered to encourage her, or the fact that she spent so much time evaluating the quirks of others despite the fact that she would never develop one herself.

Deep down it could have been the fact he did remember what it was like to be told he couldn't be a hero because he had been born quirkless as well.

"Just because you can't save people directly doesn't mean you are powerless. Those assessments you've been doing have helped countless pro heroes improve their own skills and save a lot of lives. Even Endeavor acknowledged the fact that the skills analysis you do have merit," said Toshinori finally.

Admittedly he had mostly sent in his son's stats for an assessment to see if she actually knew what she was doing, but he was rather pleased with the results as there was a marked improvement in his son's skill using his ice half. Not to mention the ideas she shared about using his ice for short range use like making a sword or other weapon that could be made in a short amount of time but have a wide variety of uses.

Seeing the hope spark in her eyes, he knew he had said the right thing.

"Sometimes the biggest hero is the person who believes in those who stand in the spotlight when the public turns against them. People like that often give more hope to those who have lost theirs," said Toshinori quietly.

He could vividly remember at least three heroes who had been _saved_ by her website. They had been caught up in a nasty mess with a villain who had killed his victims while they were helpless to stop him in time. The public and the families had wanted someone to blame and it had resulted in a huge mess.

The heroes popularity dropped considerably around the board and they were targeted by the media and those who were always happy to destroy a hero's reputation for a costly mistake, regardless of whether they were at fault or not.

However one website didn't villify them or make the entire thing sound like it was their fault the people died.

The Eclipse website had posted the limited video of the incident and had taken apart with a critical eye, pointing out what they did right and what factors had turned the entire incident against them. Then they opened up a forum with the pointed question of what other pro heroes would do directly and when the comments came in, she turned the tables on those who tried to blame the three heroes by pointing out _their_ mistakes that people had either forgotten about or glossed over.

Even if those mistakes were years old or covered up and forgotten about.

It had put things into perspective, and thanks to the popularity of the site, those that stood with the heroes had rallied behind them.

Eventually the entire mess blew over, but thanks to Eclipse the heroes were able to return to their job, a little more humble but a lot wiser and with a new perspective on who their true allies were.

As a side effect they created a support group for pro heroes who had that one bad day when nobody won except the villain, and they named it the Eclipse Society.

Toshinori had to wonder if Midoriya knew how much her actions meant to those heroes.

Hikari blushed at bit at the compliment, especially since her beloved hero hadn't outright told her it was _impossible_ like so many others had. Even her own mother had given up on encouraging her dream.

Hikari stayed on the roof for a bit, until the sound of an explosion happened. It was the villain All Might had captured earlier, which had fallen loose because of her impulsive actions.

She raced to the scene and was only _mildly_ horrified to discover Bakugo trapped by the slime villain.

All the pro heroes available on the scene were unable to do anything as their quirks were either ineffective or they were too dangerous to use with a hostage that close to the villain.

Hikari took one look at Bakugo and a plan immediately came to mind. One that had minimal risk of her classmate and former childhood friend being hurt.

However it was one that would get her a rather thorough tongue-lashing from the pro heroes.

She debated on whether to act, when Bakugo's eyes met her own. Contrary what she was used to, he looked absolutely _terrified._

_That_ expression made her decision and she found herself bolting forward, heedless of Kamui trying to stop her.

Unknown to her classmates, their taunts and jeers did in fact bother her.

However instead of giving up, she used it to motivate her into learning how to defend herself without needing a quirk at all. One of the hobbies she picked up happened to be parkour.

Her feet carried her _over_ the slime creature, and gave her the perfect angle to launch her next move.

Which happened to be using the pepper spray she always carried in her bag in case a villain targeted her or against her bullies. She aimed it right in the slime's eyes, and he screamed in pain.

Bakugo wasn't an idiot...he bolted the first chance he could away from the villain and Hikari jumped up to grab a nearby ladder to hoist herself up past where he could reach.

And just in time too... there was a sudden gust of wind that made her very glad she generally wore shorts under her school skirt as there was no way she could have kept from flashing anyone.

All Might had arrived to defeat the villain a second time, and Hikari felt every minute of the lecture she got was worth it.

Even if she felt the resentful gaze of Bakugo because the 'weak loser' from his class had been the one to save his ungrateful ass.

* * *

Hikari stared at Toshinori-san in absolute shock.

"Wait...what?" she said in disbelief.

"I said it's possible for you to become a pro hero," repeated Toshinori. "I've been spending the past few years after that fight looking for a successor to my power, but I've had no luck at all...until I saw how you jumped in to save a classmate without any hesitation and used your head to free him from that villain with minimal harm to the hostage when everyone else just stood there. There are a lot of pro heroes out there for the money or the fame. But I have the feeling you could be the sort of hero that could act as the next beacon of hope for the _right_ reasons."

Hikari was still in shock.

"But how? There's no way the government would issue a pro hero license without a recognized quirk. I've checked," said Hikari.

She was like a dying man in the desert who had just discovered an oasis. It didn't matter whether it was a mirage or the real thing, she just knew she had to reach for it.

"What if there was a way for you to gain a quirk?" asked Toshinori seriously.

He knew he had made the right choice with the way her eyes lit up with hope.

"How?"

"Much like you, I wasn't born with a quirk. However I attracted the attention of someone who was able to transfer their powers to me, as it has been for a while. If you agree, you will become the ninth successor of One for All."

"Wait..._ninth_?" said Hikari stunned. What sort of quirk could transfer between users? Her mind was already racing with this new information and what it could mean.

After having to do so many Quirk Assessments for UA and other top hero academies, she immediately went into analysis mode over the possibilities.

Toshinori bore her enthusiasm with patience. He knew instinctively he had found the perfect candidate to pass on his power to, they just needed to train her body up so that she could use it without killing herself.

There was one tiny tidbit he hadn't considered, which was the reaction her mother would likely have if people knew she was spending so much time with an older man.

Fortunately Hikari knew the perfect cover story that they could use even if someone found out that she was spending time with him that would pass any inspection given.

It was a well known fact that the name "Toshinori Yagi" was the secretary for All Might. And considering how much work was involved, it wouldn't be _that_ unusual for him to take in an intern so that he could get a break. Even one as young as Hikari.

Since she was registered as 'quirkless', everyone would consider it work experience or something. The fact she had no issue with helping with the paperwork was just bonus.


	5. Eclipsed Heroics Chapter Two

Hikari's mother took the news of her daughter becoming an intern at a pro hero's office with enthusiasm.

Toshinori was more or less swept along by the force of nature that was Hikari's mother. She had taken one look at his overworked nature and more or less convinced him to stay for dinner.

Hikari had to keep from cracking up at the baffled look on her favorite hero's face.

She couldn't help but comment on it in a voice just a bit too low for her mother to properly hear.

"The great and powerful All Might, defeated by a mother."

Toshinori blinked, before he cautiously cracked a smile.

"My reputation might never recover," he shot back.

His friends that knew of his secret might rib him about it, but that would be the extent of it.

If he was surprised by the strong hug Hikari gave him because he chose to train _her_, he said nothing. But it left a comforting warmth that he kept with him.

_A few days later..._

"You are now officially my new intern," said Toshinori.

Hikari knew she would be framing this later.

"Good thing my school allows students some leeway regarding part-time jobs for scholarship reasons."

There was certain paperwork her mother had to file (mostly for liability reasons), but the end result was that she could legitimately claim she had entered an internship with a pro hero office in the hopes of obtaining a 'special scholarship' for her high school. The more prestigeous the school, the more expensive paying for it could get. Especially in a place like UA.

Seeing the rather cluttered beach, she started to get a sinking suspicion about why they were here.

"So...why are we at this beach?"

"To be quite blunt, your body isn't strong enough to handle One for All right away. You're in better condition than most, but the amount of internal strength needed to be able to use the power is a bit too low," said Toshinori.

He had found that Hikari preferred the blunt truth, without any prettied up lies. At least in regards to certain information.

"Which is why I'm going to be cleaning up the beach," said Hikari, already guessing his plan. "Fantastic."

"It was the best I could come up with on short notice, and this place is fairly secluded which means a lesser risk to people reporting All Might sightings in an odd area," said Toshinori.

"No, I totally get why you picked this area. I'm sure it could be beautiful once it's cleaned up," said Hikari. She eyed the piles of garbage with open dismay. "Do you mind if I bring gloves for next time?"

"If you can't find any let me know," said Toshinori. "Just in case I have Recovery Girl on speed dial if something happens, especially if you get any cuts. Considering the amount of garbage on the beach the last thing you need is to catch something."

Hikari brought out a surprisingly well stocked first aid kit.

"Just in case," she said.

Toshinori got her started on some basic clean up, since she didn't have any gloves to protect her hands from the sharp edges on the heavier parts.

It was a good thing she didn't have much of a social life outside of her website and various hobbies, otherwise the next few months were likely to be very taxing on her.

* * *

_Several months later..._

If she wasn't already used to drinking some truly questionable smoothies over the years for the extra nutrients, she would have done more than just grimace at having to eat one of All Might's hairs.

She didn't complain, as she knew all too well that the only way she would be able to overcome the fact that all of her potential classmates had _years_ of experience learning how to use their quirks was through hard work and perseverance. Especially since she had only two months to get used to it before the UA exam.

She had little doubt she'd pass the written exam...but she knew that the practical usually involved fighting a lot of robots and earning points.

Ironically it was her drive to learn how to fight without having to rely on a quirk that helped her the most.

Martial arts had thousands of years of rich history behind it, and had been around longer than quirks were even a possibility. Though most had fallen out of favor due to the popularity of flashy quirks, a girl like Hikari was openly encouraged in those classes to learn as it provided a measure of self-defense training.

Hikari was a second-dan in Aikido, and a black belt in Jiujitsu, Qi Gong and Tai Chi. With her lack of social life and the fact that the dojos only taught on certain days of the week, she had plenty of time to train. Add in the instructional videos she found online and she had a strong base to work with in learning how to use One for All, which to all appearances was a 'strength' based quirk that would pair well with martial arts.

Parkour just gave her an extra level of dexterity, balance and agility.

Hikari would forever remember the absolutely _disbelieving _expression All Might had on his face when she demonstrated a _light_ use of One for All. It had worn her out to the point she needed to visit Recovery Girl for a brief session, but the fact she could use it at all without breaking anything aside from extreme fatigue was enough to shock the two pro heroes.

To be fair, if it wasn't for her martial arts training...specifically Qi Gong and Tai Chi (or at least the meditation aspects of it)...she never would have figured it out so quickly.

She couldn't just use it as a last resort...the first time she did that she had broken more than a few bones, and the pain had spurred her to into avoiding a repeat.

Treating One for All as a natural part of her circulatory system had worked wonders on her understanding of how to use it.

All Might would help her refine it as much as possible with some light sparring, however the rest of her summer was going to be actually _interning_ at his office since she was serious about that.

Well, that and working on her website, which was her main source of income and had been helping her mother over the years when money was tight due to unexpected repairs.

She made more doing professional quirk assessments for pro heroes (either for personal use or for their children) than her mother did working as an office worker.

This was it. Her best shot at becoming a pro hero, at a school she had always dreamed about for years.

If she passed the initial exam, she would be granted a scholarship which would off-set the costs of her education. Just a single year alone was more than her mother generally made, and without the scholarship they would have to pay in installments.

"What the hell are _you_ doing _here_?" seethed Bakugo.

"I'm here for the exam, not that it's any concern of yours," said Hikari curtly.

"But you're a quirkless loser! What would UA want with you?" sneered Bakugo.

Hikari said nothing, silently seething. She had little doubt she could pass this exam, and the first thing she was going to write at the top of Bakugo's assessment would be that he needed an attitude adjustment and a possible psychological exam to determine if he had the right mindset for pro hero work.

With his behavior and swearing habit, he wasn't likely to make it far regardless of how flashy and impressive his quirk was. Especially considering how he treated her for _years_.

The written exam was ridiculously easy, but then again UA tended to go for the flashy quirks and only ever promoted those whose quirks were actually _useful_ during the sports exam. She never understood why they insisted on the whole 'robots' theme for the practical.

Heroes like Eraserhead would have had a very tough time getting through that exam and it would only be during the sports festival that his true worth as a hero would have come out.

She really, _really_ hoped she did well enough to get into his class. Out of all the teachers at the school, she respected his professional opinion the highest.

Very few people would be willing to expel or downgrade entire classrooms full of potential pro heroes after two months, but Aizawa Shouta was known for it.

The main reason he got away with doing it was because his assessments were usually spot on regarding his student's potential.

This was going to be a long day, she just knew it.

_An hour later..._

Spotting the straight laced teen who had called her out rather rudely during the explanation of the practical exam, Hikari felt she had to say something.

"I seriously doubt your brother would be happy if he knew you had deliberately singled out a potential classmate when it's not even your first day," she commented.

"Excuse me?" he said irate.

"You're the younger brother of the popular hero Ingenium, right? You look a lot like him," said Hikari by way of explanation.

The other teen looked startled she recognized him as Ingenium's younger brother.

"I didn't mean to single you out. I just thought we should take these exams seriously."

"It's one thing to tell someone off for not taking a practical seriously. It's another to single them out in an auditorium when the only 'crime' they were committing was quietly chatting with someone else in a tone low enough that no one was disturbed by it," said Hikari firmly. "It's okay to be nervous, considering this is the first real step to becoming a pro hero like your brother. Just try not to snap at others for it."

He looked suitably chastised.

"I'll keep that in mind, Miss..."

"Midoriya Hikari," she replied, holding out her hand.

"Tenya Iida," he said, shaking it firmly. He seemed a bit less tense now.

Hikari looked at the UA crest with some trepidation. This was it. This was the moment she found out whether she passed or failed the practical. She wasn't too sure, considering the fact that she wasn't able to destroy a lot of robots before she had to rescue that one girl from the Zero Pointer.

Hearing the voice of her mentor saying she had passed (mostly due to the sheer amount of rescue points she got from helping that bubbly girl from the robot) caused her knees to go weak.

Her mother hugged her tightly with relief.

Hikari was still in shock as she started to babble about the paperwork needed to get a scholarship since she interned with All Might's office.

One of the perks about the scholarship was that it opened her up to potentially acting as a teacher's assistant during some of the classes in later years.

* * *

_A month and a half later..._

Hikari was already on cloud nine for getting in, and there was very little that would dampen her enthusiasm.

Even if that pest Bakugo was in her class.

The second she saw their teacher, she perked up and paid attention. A fact that did not go unnoticed if the odd look their homeroom teacher gave her was any indication.

Spotting the boy from her exam, she wandered over to his direction, ignoring Bakugo's glare with practiced ease.

He recognized her immediately.

"You're the girl from the practical. Hikari-san, wasn't it?"

"Glad we're classmates, Iida-san," said Hikari cheerfully.

"I told my brother what you said to me before the practical began. He was rather impressed on how you handled it."

His older had been more sympathetic than anything and was glad his little brother was at least trying to make friends that saw past his straight-laced exterior.

Hikari was having a lot of fun talking with the others. It was nice to make friends who didn't immediately judge her like before.

Hopefully the teachers would curb Bakugo's bullying habit. If he tried that nonsense again in UA, she was going to beat his ass to the curb during official combat practice.

All Might had confided in her that he would be teaching the active combat class which simulated a 'villain versus hero' scenario.

He had been incredibly nervous, which was why Hikari had been doing her best to help him practice on the side since she would be a student at the school anyway.

If nothing else, All Might could rope her in as his teacher's assistant.

At least he could repeat his lines now without having to look at the cheat sheet. That was all she could ask for at this point.

Out of their classmates, only Hikari was unsurprised by the fact that Aizawa-sensei bluntly told them that if they didn't take this test seriously he would expel the lot of them. What they didn't know was that the pro hero also used this particular test to create the videos to send to Eclipse for a Quirk Analysis report.

* * *

_A few days later..._

Aizawa Shouta, aka Eraserhead, looked at the e-mail he got from Eclipse.

It took him a few minutes to realize there was an assessment missing, which had never happened before.

Confused, he immediately went onto the site and logged in. The site said Eclipse was online at the moment.

_Eraserhead-_ I'm missing one of the assessments I asked for.

_Eclipse-_ which one?

_Eraserhead- _Midoriya Hikari.

_Eclipse-..._All Might didn't say anything to the staff?

_Eraserhead- _Tell us what?

_Eclipse-_ Ask him who Eclipse really is and why he didn't think to mention it to the principal or the rest of the staff. If he needs convincing, just say that you know Eclipse knows the true identity of his secretary.

Aizawa was thoroughly alarmed now. The fact Toshinori Yagi, who acted as the public secretary of All Might, was _actually_ the hero himself was a secret that was kept close to only a limited number of people for security reasons. The fact Eclipse hinted that she knew about the true face of All Might was more than a little worrying. It also didn't explain why he was missing an analysis on one of his students.

He took his job as a teacher seriously. He got up to confront All Might and get an explanation.

_In the teacher's lounge..._

"Toshinori-san...is there any reason you failed to tell us that someone else knows the 'true identity' of All Might's personal secretary?" demanded Aizawa.

Present Mic choked on his tea.

"Wait, _what_?" he said alarmed.

"I just got a message from Eclipse, and they said they knew who All Might's secretary actually was. And that I was to ask _you_ why I was missing a student profile."

Rather than look alarmed like they expected, he looked more sheepish.

"Oops?"

"Oops? Is that all you can say to something like that?" said Present Mic incredulous.

"I forgot about it, okay? I was busy trying to get Eclipse into the proper shape to handle One for All and it completely slipped my mind to say anything!"

"Wait... you know the true identity of Eclipse? The mysterious admin who runs the most popular and comprehensive Quirk website?" said Midnight, having walked in.

"You chose Eclipse as the next inheritor of your quirk?" said Aizawa.

His mind raced, and suddenly the missing profile made perfect sense.

"You have to spill! You have to be the only person around who knows who the mysterious Eclipse is!" said Midnight.

"No wonder I'm missing a profile. It's rather hard to do an analysis of yourself after all," said Aizawa tiredly.

He took out his phone and started the chat up with Eclipse.

_Eraserhead-_ Is the reason I'm missing a profile because you can't perform an analysis of yourself?

_Eclipse-_ that and I was quirkless until All Might offered to train me. The last thing I want to do is taint my reputation with a bad analysis.

_Eraserhead-_ you do realize that your relationship with Bakugo Katsuki would fall under that category.

_Eclipse_\- I was dead serious about him needing a second evaluation. The teachers at our old school kept overlooking a lot of behavior that would be unacceptable for heroes so long as they didn't break any actual school rules or bring bad publicity to them. He used his quirk to bully a lot of the weaker students and none of the teacher bothered to reprimand him for it. I know one of his old crowd was a complete pervert who never should have been accepted into a hero school and I will stand by that.

Aizawa had noticed the teen was highly abrasive, but hadn't thought it was worth noting since a few months of proper training could help.

However he had never known Eclipse to lie on an assessment and if it was as bad as she implied it was worth taking the time to do a proper exam.


	6. Accidental Rewrite Chapter Two

Todoroki Sakura felt like she was torn between two worlds. It wasn't entirely her fault.

She had lived with Endeavor's abuse for years and never thought to question it, silently suffering because the man couldn't stand the fact that he always came up second-best to All Might.

As such, she had allowed herself to be mistaken for a rather feminine looking boy by the name of Shouto. After her mother was sent to live in a care facility because of the incident, the only one who bothered to call her Sakura anymore was her older sister.

Except...shortly after she woke up from being taken to the hospital to save her eye, she realized she had memories _that shouldn't be there_.

Memories of her older self, who was an incredibly bitter and isolated young woman who had fought tooth and nail against the way Endeavor had raised her to be, and who had found love but was too scared to take a chance on it.

Her older self had moved as far away from Endeavor as she could, and had gone on to become a hero in America. It was only after she made a name for herself that had nothing to do with her father that she had moved back (though not in the same house or prefecture as Endeavor).

That was when she met _him_. A man who had unofficially taken over the position All Might had left behind on his death.

Deku, the Symbol of Hope.

He was a quirkless hero who still managed to take out the villains and even held a legitimate hero's license. Seeing him in action, it was so easy to forget that he had never been born with a special power, and that he fought entirely with his mind and the inventions he made.

The first time she met him, she knew immediately that he didn't see her as "Endeavor's daughter". He just saw her.

It was only natural that when Sakura woke up and found herself in her much younger body that she try to figure out what happened.

The only explanation that made any sense was that she had accidentally got caught up in the blast of whatever experiment her secret lover was doing with the little girl he rescued that had a time-based quirk. They had been attempting to see if she could control how far back she could revert time and if she could move things forward, when the device she was testing on reacted badly and blew up.

Which meant she spent seven very lonely years until she was old enough for UA.

Unknown to Endeavor, there was one alteration she was going to make on her application. She was going to politely request that she be moved to the dorms and that they not mention it to her father.

Principal Nezu discreetly took her aside and was rather understanding that she wanted to be a hero without being in her father's shadow all the time. And since Endeavor could pay for it anyway, they subtly tacked on the cost of living in the dorms into the bill.

Endeavor was beyond _pissed_ when he figured it out, but by that time it was too late and Nezu was more than happy to insinuate that the hero thought UA's ability to train his child was subpar.

Endeavor was many things, but an idiot was not one of them. He knew damn well the principal would have the press eating him alive if he tried to make his daughter move back because he wanted to retain his control over her.

At least she agreed to keep wearing the boy's uniform, if only out of habit. So long as she was wearing theuniform and didn't violate the privacy of the boys by changing with them, the staff would keep their silence on her gender.

She wasn't really looking forward to her class. She remembered that little pervert Mineta with far too much disgust. This time she wouldn't hesitate...she was going to freeze his balls and threaten to unman him if she caught him perving on the girls. With how small he was, it wouldn't be that hard.

So you could imagine her confusion when she realized that there were two faces she _didn't_ recognize from her class in 1-A.

A hot headed teen with an explosive quirk, a really foul attitude and mouth to match. It wouldn't be until she heard his name that any recognition came to her.

And then only because Izuku would sometimes comment on his greatest regret while drunk off his ass, about being unable to help "Kacchan". Of the fact that he had only developed the Eraser Kitty _after_ his childhood friend had been killed during a villain attack because the heroes had stood there and done nothing.

Todoroki stared at him in shock. Bakugo Katsuki had been killed in her original timeline. So if he was alive now and in her class, then what else had changed?

The other oddity was a teen with green hair that was listening to music while doodling something in his notebook. He looked really familiar, but that was about it. One thing she was certain of was that he wasn't in her class the first time either.

She kept her focus on the green haired teen. Mostly because the shade looked remarkably similar to _his_ and she recognized the odd pendant around his neck as a mid-range Eraser Kitty.

So far the only sign Izuku had come back as well was the one-time use "Eraser Kittens" being made available to the police. As far as she could remember, those weren't developed for another three years at best.

She really, really hoped that she found Izuku soon. She needed his optimism.

"How did your first class of the year go?" asked Hizashi.

"Interesting. I think I saw the beginnings of a crush between Midoriya and Endeavor's kid," said Aizawa.

Hizashi nearly spat out his tea.

"Seriously?"

"He kept glancing in her direction and had this weirdly fond look in his eyes. Though _she_ kept giving that Bakugo kid weird looks. Almost like he had a second head or something," said Aizawa.

Actually it was more in line with the expression one would get when they saw someone they thought was dead turning out to be alive. Though not the relieved look...the look was closer to the shock and disbelief expression one would get at a stranger being alive.

What Izuku hadn't mentioned was that in his original timeline, Bakugo died because of the Sludge villain. He also wasn't aware All Might had been present at the scene, but had kept back because he had already used up his time limit.

Though to be fair, Izuku only found _that_ out when Toshinori happened to share the video that he had taken of the chewing out Izuku had given the heroes on the scene.

It was Izuku's lecture that had convinced All Might to make the boy his heir. Something he hadn't regretted once, especially after the showing of the entrance exam.

"So we might have some entertainment watching the daughter of Endeavor and All Might's heir dating? Fun," said Midnight, having walked in.

"Considering this is the same kid who basically alienated himself from damn near his entire school, and made the _adults_ cry for mommy because he had a pretty solid case that would utterly destroy their school's reputation? I say we start the betting pools now on whether they date or not," said Hizashi wickedly.

"I know I'm going to regret saying this...but I second that," said Aizawa.

Toshinori walked in.

"What's this about Izuku's school?"

"It's like this...his old school was so eager to get that Bakugo kid into UA that they pretty much ignored the fact his ego was growing out of control. Izuku got tired of being his victim, so he came up with the Eraser Kitty. Add in the martial arts training he's been getting from Aizawa, and the kid didn't stand a chance," said Hizashi.

"I still can't believe he named them _Eraser Kitty_," said Aizawa exasperated.

"But it's such a cute name and easy to remember!" laughed Cementoss.

"I know, right?" said Hizashi laughing. "Anyway the teachers didn't like the fact that the 'quirkless' kid beat up their best bet to a UA admission, so they called Izuku and his mom in and threatened to suspend or even expel him. What they didn't know was that Izuku was tired of being mocked because his quirk manifested late, so he put up a whole bunch of hidden cameras and was even wearing a body cam during the entire incident."

"The kid straight up threatened to sue because he had video evidence going back three months showing they were doing nothing about the subtle bullying because he didn't have a quirk. And the videos all showed Bakugo being the main aggressor with the teachers and most of the students showing open approval for it," said Aizawa darkly amused. "The Principal damn near pissed himself when Izuku said he'd take the case to court and even make sure the media heard about the fact that the school administration allowed open harassment of a 'quirkless' kid and basically let public opinion trash their reputation."

Toshinori winced...and had to admit that was a pretty vicious move.

"In the end the matter was dropped, and the teachers spent a month trying to find the cameras before giving up and leaving him alone. And they couldn't _ban_ the body cam because Izuku claimed he had brought it so that he could replay the lesson of the day to help further his studies, and because it doubled as a person protection device," said Hizashi amused.

"You're kidding," said Toshinori.

"A body cam's only purpose is to record events, nothing else. It's not illegal and anyone can get their hands on them for a little cash," said Aizawa. "Just like they couldn't take away the Eraser Kitty because he was using it as a passive defense against his classmates who harassed him for not having a special ability."

"I doubt they even knew about it," said Hizashi amused.

"I bet the kid would make a killing with them," said Midnight.

"He already does. He has the patent to the 'Eraser Kittens', which are one time use versions of the full thing and he sells them to the cops at a discounted price so they can hold villains with the type of quirks that would give them a lot of trouble. I heard some of the major villain prisons even pay for them for their more dangerous inmates, except those use the bioelectric power of the prisoners to stay on permanently. He pretty much paid for his school fees himself," said Aizawa. "Law enforcement loves the kid for it."

"Why not sell the full sized versions?" asked Toshinori.

"Because they're part of his personal arsenal. He didn't want villains to get their hands on the real thing and find a way to reverse-engineer it, or those more extreme groups that hate quirks to find a way to use it to permanently erase quirks off the map," said Hizashi.

"Normally I'd call him paranoid, but he made a pretty good argument for keeping the schematics for the Eraser Kitty under lock and key. With how many crazies are out there, he has a legitimate reason to be wary of them getting their hands on something that can do a wide-area nullification of quirks outside the ones that are physical."

Toshinori thought that one through and grimaced. He could already imagine the sort of damage SEELE could have done with a device like that.

"Besides, the kid is already making a ton of cash from the patents and other devices he's sold to heroes," said Hizashi. "That kid is a genius and his obsession with heroes ironically made him one of the best designers in the business. If he wasn't so dead set on being a hero himself, he'd have been snatched up by the support companies in a second."

On an unrelated note, most of the teachers who had contact with Izuku were all too happy to join in on the possible betting pool on if he would date Endeavor's daughter.

Once they had more to work on, that pool would change to "when", not if.

Izuku couldn't help but be struck by the fact that he had gone from the "lone wolf" of middle school straight to one of the most popular guys in class. It was a very weird feeling, to be honest.

To add to the weirdness, the girls absolutely adored him. It drove some of the guys (Mineta Minoru in particular) crazy, because he didn't seem to notice any of them and was firmly against any perverted activities.

"I still can't believe how dense Midoriya is," said Mina. "I mean half of us would jump at the chance to date a guy like him, and yet he doesn't see it!"

Ochako nodded at that, as did Toru.

Toru was now one of Izuku's biggest supporters, because he had given her a way to 'turn off' her quirk for as long as she wanted with no side effects. Her parents couldn't stop crying for hours once they realized they could properly see her again, and that she could now become invisible whenever she wanted. Best of all the device could be attached to a cute watch that she wore on her wrist. The device would stay powered by her natural electrical current and would remain on the underside of the watch, thus hiding it from any villains.

He had earned a _ton_ of major brownie points with the girls because he commented on how now she could find a decent guy who liked her for her before he found out how cute she was once the quirk was off. The fact he said it without trying to hit on her, and made it sound like he was commenting on the weather was why the girls loved him.

Izuku was incredibly awkward around others, seemed to find the fact they wanted to _actually_ be friends with him without trying to mock him rather weird, and was generally a nice person. Yes, he could be a bit snarky when he was tired or in a bad mood, but he made a point to stay away from the really hurtful comments and was pretty good at helping them with homework when they were polite about asking.

Ochako developed a mischievous look.

"Maybe he has eyes for someone else."

"Spill girl," said Mina seriously.

"Has anyone else noticed the way he looked at Todoroki-kun?"

"Figures...the best guy in the class and he's batting for the other team," said Momo mock serious.

"Why is it all the best ones are taken, villains or gay?" said Mina tiredly.

"Mystery of the universe," said Ochako.

"For that matter, why is it that Midoriya-kun is always so surprised we want to be nice to him without any ulterior motive?" said Momo.

"Because his quirk manifested rather late, so everyone thought he was quirkless and harassed him for it," said Tokoyami. "I overheared the question."

"So the reason he's surprised we want to be actual friends with him was because his quirk came in late?" asked Momo seriously.

"Apparently the teachers continously mocked him for his dream of being a hero and no one actually encouraged him. He originally planned to get promoted from the support class into the hero class, since he had an actual shot at that when All Might's secretary recognized the signs of his latent quirk," said Tokoyami. Seeing the looks he was getting, he shrugged. "We share an interest in pre-quirk books and comics. He's helped me to get copies of certain books I've been wanting and we happened to talk. I'm a particular fan of a poet by the name of Edgar Allen Poe."

"So what happened?" asked Ochako.

"There was an incident where he disciplined Bakugo for attempting to use his quirk on him to 'teach him a lesson', only to get his ass handed to him instead. The teachers didn't like that, so they brought them both to the principal's office with their parents and threatened to suspend him. Except Izuku had video evidence of what really happened, along with similar incidents in the classroom and other popular areas like the lunch room. He threatened to sue the school and have the press eat their reputation to shreds if they didn't back off. Apparently it scared the teachers into leaving him alone, and Bakugo insured the other students hated him for it as well because he found a way to neutralize their quirks," said Tokoyami. "From what Izuku said, they were angry because he found a way to defend himself instead of simply taking it, so he didn't have many friends in his age group."

The girls all looked at each other. Izuku was a really nice guy and he had taken Mineta to task when he busted the pervert trying to peep on them in the locker room.

They were all rather shocked, then darkly pleased when he walked up to Bakugo and literally paid the other teen to punt the pervert as far as he could. The farther he went, the more cash Bakugo made from the deal.

Bakugo made a killing and was more than happy to do it as many times as Izuku wanted to get the point across to the perv that harassing the girls wouldn't be tolerated. It was pretty easy money for the explosive teen after all.

They all silently agreed to make sure Izuku knew he had friends now and that using them was the last thing on their mind. He seemed like the kind of guy that would be a good friend to have that would support you later when you really, really needed it.


	7. Hikari the Emerald Chapter One

**I LIVE! Sorry folks, been super crazy with my new job and having computer issues at the moment. **

* * *

If there was one thing Hikari hated, it was the emphasis people put on quirks. Magic was much more versatile and useful, even if she had only stumbled on that spell book by complete chance. And while it sucked that even All Might didn't think that she could be a hero without a quirk, Hikari had trained her ass off for the past eight years to prove everyone wrong.

Today was the UA entrance exam, and she was eager to see what they could come up with. She heard the practicals were absolutely brutal.

Then she spotted Bakugo and had to grimace. It took a bit of quick work, but she was able to swap seat numbers with someone else. No way was she sitting _anywhere_ near that ego-driven jerk if she could help it!

Robots...their practical exam had them fighting _robots_.

She felt like she was being cheated. Still, this was going to be easier than she thought, since she could silently chant her spells to amplify any metal she got her hands on. From what she saw she would have no shortage of pipes or other objects to use as weapons.

And wouldn't you know it? She had to use her acceleration in order to grab one idiot who managed to get themselves stuck when the biggest, most difficult opponent appeared to attack.

She learned from experience that fighting big monsters with large spells when there were people around was a bad idea. Her magic teacher was a very good example of what _not_ to do if you wanted to be a proper hero.

Lina was an excellent teacher when it came to magic, but when it came to _using_ magic responsibly around populated areas...well...she was a better example of what not to do considering she had once blown up an entire village as _collateral damage_ by accident destroying a mere dragon!

"Thanks," said the other girl.

"Next time, don't overdo it with your quirk," said Hikari. She managed to carry the other girl out of the path of destruction and not daring to look back. It was taking all her power to get them out of the way as quickly as she was. "Crap... I don't think this thing is going to give up."

Hikari put the other girl down.

"What are you going to do?"

"Proving a point," said Hikari.

She pulled out...an real sword?

"Is that a sword?" said the other girl dumbly.

"Yup. Apparently real weapons are allowed so long as you can prove competence in their use and set them aside in a special area during the written exam," said Hikari. After all, some quirks required a physical item to anchor itself to in order to be used.

The _only_ reason she had managed to get it into the practical exam was because she happened to be a national champion in both sword and martial arts, and she had carried the weapon to the school in a baseball bat case to avoid being bothered by the police. After all, it was a very little known rule that certain weapons were allowed in the exams so long as it was cleared first by the teachers. Generally that meant no live fire-arms, since the risk of accidentally hitting another potential student was far too high.

She paused for a moment, placing her feet into a decent position so that she could attack. Her stance was that of a proper swordswoman, even if the sword in question wasn't a katana or Japanese blade, but something closer to a European sword.

"Stand clear of the debris, okay? I don't want to rescue you from a situation that you could have avoided."

The other girl nodded dumbly.

What happened was a one-sided slaughter...for the giant robot.

The girl sliced through it with terrifying ease and skill...and ironically it was as she sheathed her unusual blade that the timer finally went off.

She could only hope that she got a high enough score to pass.

_A month later..._

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT LOSER GOT A HIGHER SCORE THAN ME?!"

Ah, the rage of the ego-driven jerk was pure music to her ears. Though she had to wonder what he meant by higher score.

Before she had a chance to look up the scores posted, her mother came in with the envelope she had been waiting for.

She got in!

* * *

It was their first mock combat scenario, and the teacher was...to her great shock...All Might. She had already surprised her new classmates by getting such a high score without having a quirk, and had cheated slightly during the test Aizawa-sensei had given to weed out those who had the wrong mindset for hero work.

She was relieved to find out that the information she looked up was correct for the most part. It was the only reason she wasn't shocked when Aizawa-sensei threatened to expel them all.

The second she heard that she would be on the villain team, and _Bakugo_ would be on the hero team, there was a slightly unholy grin on her face.

"All Might-sensei, we're allowed to beat up the opposing team so long as no permanent maiming is done, right?" asked Hikari, almost a little too eagerly.

"No permanent maiming or lethal attacks allowed. However try to restrain your attacks so that the opposing team doesn't require any hospital stays! Other than that, you're free to put the opposing team into submission however you like!" he said with a thumb's up.

Bakugo felt a sudden chill go down his spine at the way his former friend was looking at him. Why did he suddenly feel so terrified? She was a quirkless loser! She shouldn't scare him like this!

_Inside the 'villain base'..._

"Look, when the boys get in here just work on distracting Iida-san. Bakugo is such a hot head that once I rile him up enough he won't think straight at all and will charge in like an enraged bull. Iida is fast, but he's too straight laced to do any damaging attacks and if we alter the floor the right way we can trip him up and make it easier to kill time until I get back or until the timer runs out."

Ochako nodded.

"What did you have in mind?"

"How many objects can your quirk effect without making you sick?" asked Hikari seriously.

Once she explained her plan, Ochako grinned wickedly. Her partner was scarily devious and if they did this the right way then it would kill a lot of time for the hero team because Iida's speed would be nullified. After all, he was a bit too by-the-book to come up with something creative in such a short time period.

"What are you going to do to Bakugo?"

"Vent eleven years of frustration and feminine wrath on him," deadpanned Hikari.

"..."

_With the hero team..._

Iida was sorely wishing he had another partner for this. The only thing Bakugo cared about was proving his 'superiority' to his former classmate and friend Hikari.

Sure, learning she had no quirk had come as a genuine shock, but she had more than learned to compensate from what he saw during the entrance exam. She had rightfully earned her place in the hero course with her sword skills.

Besides, he had the distinct feeling she had a few tricks up her sleeve to even out the odds.

The second he saw Hikari, Bakugo saw _red_ and charged in like an idiot. Iida knew a lost cause when he saw one, so he went to find the weapon and quite likely Ochako.

This was going to end badly...he just knew it.

_With Bakugo and Hikari..._

Hikari's eyes gleamed as she stared down an enraged Bakugo. A few choice words and he completely lost his cool, which was what she wanted.

An enraged opponent was often a stupid one, and she knew most of his attack patterns. However he had no idea about any of the things _she_ could do because he had been so full of himself he never took the time to notice.

Besides, she knew his weaknesses.

Hikari began muttering under her breath, and before Bakugo had a chance to send out his attack she sent an arrow of _ice_ at him.

_"Freeze Arrow!"_

Bakugo couldn't dodge fast enough, not in the confined space she had tricked him in. He had thought he had the advantage, only for her to pull this on him!

"What the fuck?!"

"Your quirk works by using your natural sweat glands to produce nitroglycerin. Those toys of yours on your arms likely collect them for a larger blast," said Hikari sing-song. "So what happens when you come across someone who can _freeze_ you before you have a chance to break into a sweat and you're too busy trying to retain your core temperature instead of freezing your balls off?"

Bakugo was beyond pissed.

"You bitch!"

"Eleven years."

"What?" he said confused.

Hikari crossed her arms annoyed.

"I've had to put up with your ego-driven _bullshit_ for _eleven years_. Eleven years of having to listen to the adults praise that stupid overly-flashy quirk of yours while openly disparaging or derisively mocking my dream of being a hero like All Might. Of having to watch as your ego inflated out of control because you happened to have a flashy and somewhat decent quirk, and because they wanted to say they had a 'hand' in pushing you into UA, since there was a chance you might remember them once you made hero," said Hikari darkly. "Your ego has grown out of control, and the only reason I didn't bring you back down to earth is because the adults would have given me more trouble than it was worth. Now though.. now all bets are off. I'm going to show you _exactly_ how much I _appreciated_ that damn ego and harassment of yours."

Hikari pounded her right fist into her left.

"Prepare to feel the wrath of someone you pushed too far."

That chill Bakugo felt tripled in an instant. This would not end well...and it pissed him off that the stupid quirkless girl had hidden this much power all this time!

_Outside in the observation room..._

All Might had to sweat drop slightly at the way Hikari was basically curbstomping her former friend into submission. Though what really interested him was the odd chants Hikari was using.

It was almost as if she knew how to cast magic, but that was ridiculous. That power, as far as he knew, was lost centuries before the first quirk appeared.

"Um...Sensei? Shouldn't we stop her?"

"She isn't inflicting any lethal wounds, and from what I can tell she's holding back a lot of her power. She's not attacking him directly with those ice arrows of hers, but using them to restrict his quirk. As long as she keeps it within acceptable parameters, I won't interfere," said All Might.

Everyone's attention went back to the screen when they heard Hikari use the words "DETROIT SMASH!" and plow Bakugo through the walls.

"Does anyone else feel sorry for Bakugo?" asked Mineta.

"In this case I'm going out on a limb and say that she's using this as an excuse to vent after eleven years of holding back," said Momo sweatdropping.

"Considering this is Midoriya-sempai, I'm not surprised," muttered Ojiro. He noticed the looks everyone was giving him. "What?"

"Why did you call her sempai?" asked Todoroki.

"She trains at the same dojo I do during the summers and teaches the beginning rank students as a part-time job," he replied. "I've sparred with her a few times before, but I've never beaten her once. I had no idea she was planning to join UA."

"Any idea what she based her hero uniform on?" asked Mina curiously.

"Actually that's what she normally wears," said Ojiro. "I guess she didn't feel the need to come up with a different uniform and simply sent in a picture of her usual outfit and asked that they make it more durable. Though I think the belt is new at least."

"Holy... I take it back, I feel sorry for Bakugo," said Mineta horrified.

"Why?" asked Momo, before she turned to the screen. "Oh."

She had used the capture tape to truss Bakugo in a way that would inflict no end of embarassment and possible innuendo. The expression on his face said volumes, especially when she made a throwaway comment about a ball gag, which had some of the girls blush at the imagery.

All Might sweatdropped, as he was pretty sure the tape wasn't supposed to be used like _that_. Though he could partially relate to her revenge, as he could all too clearly recall the pain he felt being mocked for not having a quirk.

Besides, the worst she had done was inflict a bit of minor embarassment on him that could be mostly forgotten about later. She had allowed him to keep his dignity, even if she had utterly shredded his new hero costume.

Then he noticed the time, and the fact Iida wasn't going to get past the subtle but highly effective trap Ochako had implimented at Hikari's suggestion.

Ochako had used her quirk to levitate the entire floor slightly and at subtle angles.

Iida's quirk allowed him to accelerate at high speeds, particularly on flat surfaces. Ochako's allowed her to negate the effects of gravity.

Hikari's plan was simple and highly effective. She had Ochako erase the gravity on _all_ the floor tiles just enough that they could manipulate the surface and make it uneven. However some of them were left alone, so that Iida couldn't simply just crash through them.

At first glance the floor appeared to be level, but the moment he tried to use his quirk he tripped.

And when Ochako canceled her quirk on the tiles, they smashed against the floor creating an uneven and dangerous surface for someone going too fast on.

They were, quite simply, at a stalemate. If Bakugo hadn't chased Hikari, the strategy wouldn't have been so effective, but he had allowed his pride and ego to get in the way of the mission.

When Hikari showed up, Iida barely had a chance to notice her before she used the capture tape Ochako had on her to get him as well.

"_Villains win!"_ announced All Might.

What happened next had him rushing out of the room, along with most of the class.

Apparently Bakugo took the minor humiliation Hikari subjected him rather poorly, because he had an enraged expression on his face as he sent a medium-sized blast towards one of the support pillars in the room, causing a section of the roof to collapse.

Hikari, having far more expereince in dangerous situations and a strong sixth sense for trouble, shoved Iida and Ochako out of the way and _narrowly_ avoided a devastating injury.

However she didn't come out of the attack unscathed. There was a nasty gash on her side and it was clear just by looking at her that she had a serious concussion. Iida and Ochako were fortunate that Hikari pushed them away, as they got away with minor bruising instead of the major injuries they would have gotten.

All Might made sure to remove the gauntlets from Bakugo's arms, but the damage was done. He could have easily killed his classmates and there was no way the teen could claim it was a 'training accident', considering he had attacked a full minute after All Might announced the exercise was over. Besides, he still had capture tape on him which meant that he was supposed to be out of bounds to begin with.

On the plus side, he knew he had found a proper successor to One for All. Hikari hadn't hesitated for a second to push her classmates out of the way _before_ she attempted to do so herself, even if it meant she would be injured in the process. She had a few quirks to her personality, but he attributed that to the way she grew up. Besides, most heroes developed a few personality quirks to deal with the stress of the job.


	8. Where You Least Expect It Chapter One

Toshinori looked at the tiny green-haired little girl with sad, unhappy green eyes.

Her name was Midoriya Nozomi, and her mother was killed in a villain plot that he failed to stop in time. Seeing her expression at the funeral was so heart-breaking he had to step in the second he heard she was being sent to an orphanage because she had no one to claim her.

In a single instant, her life was completely shattered...all because some villain had the bright side to blindside him with a kick to the leg, causing him to trip slightly and lose the momentum that would have allowed him to reach her mother in time to save her life.

Toshinori had gone to the small funeral, mostly to pay his respects to the woman he failed to save...and happened to overhear the girl's situation. Seeing the poor child so broken over losing her whole world had moved him that he had to take her in as atonement.

For the first few days, there was a bit of awkwardness as they slowly began to adjust to one another. Logically he knew everyone grieved differently, and Nozomi had to rely on her mother's friends to help with the funeral arrangements. There was no way she was over her mother's sudden death this quickly.

It wasn't until he happened to see the lights on in her room one night that he finally found a way to hopefully nudge his new charge into opening up... at least enough that she would be able to grieve properly and hopefully adjust to her new life.

The light he saw was from the small TV, and closer inspection revealed that the media player attached was recording something onto a blank disc from the casing. Nozomi herself was asleep, but the media player was recording a late night talk show he recognized immediately. The TV was on mute, but he could see from the images that his hero form of All Might was giving a late-night interview.

While logically he knew there were a few other interviews on that episode, it made him wonder if Nozomi was a fan of All Might... even though he had failed to save her mother that day.

What cemented his decision to keep her and possibly start the adoption process happened two and a half months after her mother's death. A reporter he didn't particularly like but learned to tolerate somehow recognized Nozomi as the daughter of the woman All Might failed to save.

He wasn't sure why she felt it was acceptable to question the girl about her mother. He also didn't appreciate the fact she had her cameraman nearby to record the entire thing. One thing he would never forget was the way Nozomi reacted when the reporter asked how she felt about the fact All Might failed to save her parent.

Nozomi, rather than break down crying like the reporter expected, grew pissed off.

"It wasn't his fault! All Might did everything he could to save her! If that stupid villain hadn't deliberately blindsided him, he would have made it in time! It's not like he orchestrated the whole thing!" said Nozomi angrily, furious beyond belief this woman would insinuate it was the hero's fault her mother died.

Dead silence. Toshinori was still a little stunned and was unable to stop himself from asking something he probably shouldn't have.

"Nozomi-chan...how did you know that one of the villains blindsided All Might the moment your mother was killed?"

Nozomi flinched.

"I...I wanted to see for myself why she died. It's not like they secure the surveillance cameras that well, and I've gotten into their recorded feed before to get a better view of hero fights," said Nozomi. She knew she would likely get into a great deal of trouble for admitting she hacked into the cameras, but she _had_ to know what happened.

Considering the skill level of the villains in question, her mother shouldn't have died in the first place unless there were mitigating circumstances.

"You don't blame All Might?" said the reporter dumbfounded.

"Why would I?" said Nozomi, honestly confused. "He made every effort to save her, it wasn't his fault Mama went so quickly. Besides, there has never been a hero who could save _everyone_ during every villain attack."

Toshinori bent down to eye-level with his charge. Nozomi didn't need to be told when she saw him holding his arms out slightly, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She was stuck between the denial and anger stages of grief, and was still too emotionally raw to fully comprehend that her mother was gone for good.

He felt slightly gratified the cameraman discreetly deleted the video, and handed the only copy to Toshinori, to the annoyance of the reporter who was hoping for a sob story she could sell.

Nozomi cried for hours, and slept until morning. However she looked a little more alive than before, which was a small mercy.

Which was why he made it his personal mission to try and get her to smile. It was slow, and there weren't many successes at first, but he was able to figure out a few things.

One thing Nozomi seemed to enjoy was him carrying her around with her head against his shoulder with one arm. The physical contact seemed to help soothe her nightmares. Another thing she really seemed to enjoy was pre-quirk movies.

He was beyond happy to discover Nozomi was a major fan of the pre-quirk era things, as it meant he had a proper audience to help him watch all the movies he had in his collection.

* * *

Nozomi was still a little nervous about transferring to a new school. Her last one didn't exactly treat her well for being quirkless.

This school wasn't much better. It was one of those places where only those who had parents or patrons with major connections had any chance of getting into. Something she didn't have, but her guardian had picked this place out due to a recommendation of a friend and the school was all too happy to do All Might a favor by letting his secretary's charge into their school.

Just as she feared, the second they learned she didn't have a quirk most of the kids discreetly began to snub her. Since she was still fairly new, it would take a while for that attitude to sink in, but once it did maybe she could convince her guardian to let her do homeschool instead.

It was only around lunch that she found some ray of hope that she wouldn't be completely miserable.

She spotted a boy sitting away from everyone else with duo-colored hair, and upon closer inspection had heterochromatic eyes. He was in a fairly secluded spot, which wasn't visible from the main path and was through some fairly unpleasant bushes.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Leave me alone."

"I am, I'm just asking if you mind quiet company," she replied.

He glared at her, though there was a hollow nature to the glare.

"Do what you want, but pretending to be my friend won't get you close to that man."

She blinked.

"Let me guess, you're hiding because your parent is a famous hero and you don't want to deal with fake friends who are more interested in meeting him than actually being around you?"

He nodded slowly.

"I have the opposite problem, at least until they find out who my legal guardian is. I've already resigned myself that no one wants to be my friend in the least because I'm quirkless," she replied. "Hence why I would rather sit here with someone clearly avoiding everyone else. I can avoid the worst of their condemnation and hopefully have someone who isn't trying to fake being nice."

Complete and utter shock.

"You're quirkless?"

She nodded.

"My guardian sent me here because he has a full time job as a secretary for a pro hero office and someone recommended this school. Apparently the part that decided him was the fact that the arrogant blowhard known as Endeavor sends his own kids here," she replied.

He stared at her.

"You think Endeavor is an arrogant blowhard?" he said dumbstruck.

She nodded.

"He may have one of the highest clear rates of any other pro hero office in the area, but the sheer amount of collateral damage he does because of his overbearing ego is ridiculous. If you look at public record you'll see he has to take that many cases on _just_ to pay for the damages he does to buildings and the pay the hospital fees of those caught up in his attacks since he doesn't pay enough attention to the civilians on the side that are caught up in the mess. And anyone can tell he's a complete jackass with an ego that can't take the fact everyone loves All Might over him," said Nozomi flatly, and without a single hint of hesitation. "He might be a competent hero, but he's not a good person and I honestly feel sorry for his kids."

She never liked Endeavor. And that was long before she became the charge of All Might's secretary.

The boy seemed to mull something over, having sensed the complete sincerity of her words.

"Shouto," he said, holding out his hand.

"Nozomi."

The two ate their lunch in companionable silence, and she only learned after the fact that he was Endeavor's son.

In spite of that, he was the only kid in her class who openly befriended her long before it got out that her guardian was All Might's personal secretary.

A few weeks later, Shouto came to have a study session with Nozomi. She was scarily smart, and his sister fully approved of his friendship with her since she had little to gain from it beyond someone to talk to. After all, Endeavor was a quirkest and the idea of accepting someone as sweet as Nozomi who had no quirk at all would never even occur to him. _Especially_ since her guardian was All Might's personal secretary.

He almost wanted to sweatdrop at the sheer _number_ of All Might items in Nozomi's room, except he could only imagine the look on that man's face finding out his new best friend was an absolute All Might fan girl.

(The good kind, thankfully, not the overly obsessed nutjobs that seemed to believe they were destined to be soul mates with the unfortunate object of their attention.)

"How did you collect all this stuff?"

"I was always an admirer of All Might, even before my mama was killed. Toshinori-san is nice enough that he doesn't mind bringing back stuff from work for my collection, and I have a TV to record the interviews in my room. He also lets me watch the less graphic videos of other heroes, since I like collecting data about them. You should have seen Eraserhead's face when I asked him for an autograph along with Present Mic!"

Eraserhead was an underground hero, and therefor had next to no fans. Which he preferred, because he despised the media. Having a little girl actually _recognize_ him on sight and ask him for an autograph in front of Present Mic had shocked him greatly.

Hizashi still hadn't stopped laughing about the look on his face when it happened.

As it was, when Nozomi admitted to hacking surveillance cameras to watch hero fights after the fact, Toshinori decided it was better to nip that potentially bad habit in the bud by introducing her to principal Nezu.

Apparently she was a natural genius, but the sheer harassment she went through because she lacked a quirk had her downplaying it. He had given Toshinori several puzzles and exercises to keep her mind extra sharp and to help develop it properly after meeting her.

Nozomi didn't know this, but most of the UA staff that had met her generally ended up smitten with the adorable young girl who had an honest love of heroes and a realistic view of their job.

* * *

_With Toshinori..._

Toshinori had to admit, he never thought his life would change this much by taking in a child. Nozomi was an adorable bundle of sunshine who brought smiles to everyone by being herself, even the more jaded heroes. She had a natural knack for computers and programming, and there was a good chance she might be able to join UA as part of the Support class...if only to help calibrate new toys for the heroes to play with to better suit them.

The strange feeling of protectiveness he felt around Nozomi was something he had grown positively addicted to.

It wasn't until he made a comment about it around his former sidekick that he was enlightened as to why.

"You're feeling the love and devotion that only being a parent can bring. She might not be your blood, but you're starting to see her as your actual daughter," said Sir Nighteye.

"I am?" he said surprised.

"That little girl has managed to worm herself past your usual barriers into your heart. It's not surprising...she's a sweet kid who genuinely loves your hero side while having a surprisingly realistic view of All Might and doesn't blame him for her mother's death. I bet you anything it won't be long before she calls you Papa or something similar," said Nighteye with confidence.

Once Nozomi had come out of her shell...mostly...it was clear she was starting to develop a bond with her guardian. He wouldn't be shocked in the least if she started calling him Daddy or something similar instead of "Toshinori-san".

In fact he had the feeling a lot of people would be willing to get into _that_ betting pool if it was made.

(Though in the end, Present Mic ended up winning _that_ particular bet on when she would openly call him dad and which version she would use.)

Toshinori, spurred on by what Nighteye said, decided to take Nozomi and Shouto to a small carnival for a bit of fun. Endeavor had no idea where his son was, and considering his foul mood and plans to 'train' him, that was probably a good thing. His sister was more than happy to undermine her genetic donor by allowing her little brother to spend as much time as he wanted around Nozomi.

Considering Shouto _hated_ his father, it meant he generally tried to spend as much as he could get away with.

Of course it was only _natural_ that a villain would decided today was the perfect day to ruin everyone else's fun.

All Might stopped the villain, but it was what happened when he went to get Nozomi and Shouto out of their hiding spots that would end up becoming something he almost felt like punting his publicist for.

Someone managed to capture the chaste kiss on the cheek Nozomi gave him in his hero form, and it hadn't taken long for his publicist to find out that Nozomi was the daughter of the woman All Might failed to save that his secretary ended up taking in.

You could imagine the spit take he gave when he saw the picture of him holding Nozomi like he usually did when she wore herself out and was too tired to walk, only this time with a kiss on the cheek instead of her curled up against him.

(He once asked why she liked curling up against him like that. She would only comment that he felt like 'warm sunshine and safety'.)


	9. Unexpected Relations Chapter One

Ichigo Kurosaki was not in a good mood. Most of the blame could be laid on the fact that until recently, she had been in a life or death struggle against a madman who wanted to play at being a god.

After the Winter War was finally over, Ichigo thought she could go back to her (mostly) normal life.

Except...once she finally recovered from the battle with Aizen, she had discovered the hard way that her quirk no longer worked. It was still there, but any attempts to use it would cause her power to sputter in and out.

Urahara speculated that she had 'blown a fuse', so to speak, and that she needed to wait until her spiritual energy properly recovered before she could use her quirk again. Not even Orihime's Rejection quirk helped, which had only made Ichigo even more depressed. Sure, she had her martial arts to fall back on as well as the limited knowledge she had as a battlefield medic, but it didn't really make up for the fact that she was temporarily quirkless and that her friends in the Soul Society had been far too quick to drop her once they found out her powers would be out of commission.

Rukia in particular had been fairly unsympathetic about the whole thing.

It really pissed Ichigo off, because she had the distinct feeling that if her powers returned and they suddenly faced a crisis, they wouldn't hesitate to drag her back into _their_ problems all over again.

It was to that end that Isshin, a man Ichigo generally dismissed as an idiot (though she would concede he was a good father), decided rather out-of-the-blue to tell his children the _actual_ story of how their grandmother met their grandfather.

Apparently his grandmother was a former spiritualist that sounded far too much like a Quincy to be coincidence that had a run-in with a few pro heroes while hunting hollows. During the attack, the road was wrecked badly enough that no one could leave and she ended up sharing a room with a man she had a brief fling with. A few months later she found out she was pregnant, but to save face the clan told everyone that it was her fiance who had died in the attack who fathered the child...everyone dismissed Masaki's odd hair color and any other oddities as part of her quirk.

Isshin didn't know what the man's pro hero name was, but Masaki had been able to get a partial name out of her mother before she died.

Needless to say Ichigo was very confused as to why their father brought the story up out of nowhere, which was when he announced he was sending Ichigo to Mustafu so that she could try her luck at the UA entrance exams.

Ichigo had hoped to at least try and get into a hero school as she had never had any real direction in her life, but Rukia's appearance had caused her original plans to derail.

Isshin's plans was to give Ichigo a side project to distract her and hopefully help her move past the Soul Society's nonsense. Besides, perhaps the teachers at UA could figure out a way for Ichigo to regain the use of her quirk.

At this point Ichigo was willing to try anything. Much to her relief, she wouldn't be alone either...Chad and Orihime would be going with her, though only Orihime was going to be attempting the hero entrance exams. Chad was going to attempt general studies instead, since he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about being a pro hero.

Ichigo's side project? She was to try and locate any information on their actual grandfather to find out if they had any relatives. Since he was a pro hero, odds were that UA would be the best place to look. Or at the very least would point them in the right direction.

* * *

UA's entrance exams were surprisingly easy for someone who had fought in a war. Even without her actual quirk, she was still able to destroy enough robots to earn her way into the hero course. Orihime and Chad had no issues with it either, though they were in different areas to prevent cheating.

In fact Orihime was given an instant pass the second the teachers found out how strong her healing quirk was. She was being slated to act as Recovery Girl's apprentice for the duration of her schooling, as the teachers were rather understanding about her reluctance to actually hurt anyone.

"So...any idea how long it takes to tally the scores?" asked Ichigo.

"According to Chiyo-sensei, they should be sending out the letters next week."

To no one's surprise, Ichigo passed with the highest score. What did surprise them was the fact that _Chad_ had gotten into the hero course as well, though he would be attending class B since there was a rather explosive hot head in his section that took most of the points.

Ichigo nearly cleared her section solo, though there was this one runty teen that gave her a bad feeling.

The sort of feeling she got from complete perverts who deserved to be punted as far away as possible that is. Most perverts in Karakura breathed a sigh of relief when she left.

(As it turned out, her presence booted the teen who had given her a bad feeling straight into Class B.)

Fortunately with their acceptance into UA, they were able to move into the dorms. It was one of the perks, though it meant a bit extra when it came to entrance fees.

"You know you never did explain why your dad suggested this," said Orihime.

Ichigo rolled her eyes.

"Dad sent me here to see if couldn't find my maternal grandfather. Apparently grandma had a fling with a pro hero after a hollow attack, but couldn't be bothered to remember his full name by the time she told the truth to mom. So his big idea was to check the records at UA to see if I couldn't track him down that way as a side project."

Orihime and Chad shared a look, already knowing _why_ Isshin felt Ichigo needed a side project to keep her distracted.

"Oh! Maybe Chiyo-sensei would be willing to find out why your quirk is malfunctioning! I mean school doesn't start until next week, so she might have some free time."

"You think she'd be willing to see me?"

"Well you are going to be a new student," said Orihime. "Let me call and ask her first though."

As it turned out, Recovery Girl was more than willing to see Ichigo a bit early when Orihime explained the problem. After all, Ichigo was going to be a new student so it was better to find out what the problem was before school started.

_At UA_

"This has to be the worst case of Quirk Exhaustion I've ever seen," announced Recovery Girl. "I don't know what you did to overextend your ability this bad, but it's going to be at least another month before I recommend trying to use your quirk."

"So it's not broken?" asked Ichigo with relief.

"No...the power source seems to have been overclocked, which means your ability to use your quirk is turned off so that it can recover. It's still in shock, which is why your quirk is malfunctioning."

Ichigo had a look of pure relief on her face.

"In the meantime I'm going to put you on quirk restrictions until I see some signs of improvement. From what I saw at the entrance exams this shouldn't hinder your school work too much and I'll make sure the teachers are made aware of your condition," said Recovery Girl firmly.

"Thank you, Chiyo-sensei," said Ichigo.

"You're welcome. Now, from what Inoue-san has told me you have some qualifications as a battlefield medic?"

"After we found out what her quirk could do, most of my skills were unnecessary, but I still keep my kit with me," confirmed Ichigo.

"How would you like actual training? If you show some promise I could easily write a recommendation for any medical school you apply to later."

Ichigo perked up at that. She might look like a delinquent but she did want to become a doctor. Having a recommendation letter from someone like Recovery Girl would go a long way to getting accepted into some of the better medical schools later.

Then she remembered something.

"That's right...Chiyo-sensei, you've been a teacher and a nurse here for a while, right?"

"For a few decades at least," she agreed.

"Do you know of any pro heroes with the surname of Yagi?" asked Ichigo.

Recovery Girl blinked.

"I might. Why?"

"My dad gave me a side project to find my maternal grandfather. All grandma could remember by the time she told my mother the truth was that his surname was Yagi and that he was a pro hero...she couldn't remember his given name at all. They had a brief fling, but the family decided to pretend my mother was the daughter of my grandmother's fiance."

"Why not ask your mother?"

"She died around nine years ago," said Ichigo quietly.

Recovery Girl couldn't sense any ill intent, and there was the fact that only a select handful were aware of that hero's true identity. He had taken great pains to keep it that way.

"I may know someone with that surname, but just to be safe I'll need to take a blood sample to compare it with. I don't want to spring the possibility of a granddaughter without proof after all."

"Fair enough," said Ichigo, rolling up her sleeve without any hesitation. It would be interesting to find out who she might be related to...it wasn't like she was some fallen nobility or something, right?

(In Karakura, Isshin let out a mighty sneeze and knocked papers all over his desk.)

* * *

Toshinori Yagi, aka the pro hero All Might, walked into the infirmery with a confused look on his face.

"There hasn't been a change in my test results, right?" he asked.

Chiyo-sensei motioned for him to sit down. It must be serious.

"I have a question for you. Did you at any point during your early pro hero days have a brief fling with a civilian woman?" she asked bluntly.

"It's been so long I honestly can't remember. Though I do vaguely recall a week when the roads were washed out and we had to wait for the repairs to be done where I spent an enjoyable weekend with a civilian spiritualist," said Toshinori confused. "I can't remember her name though."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Once or twice. There was a lot of sake involved, so my memories are hazy. I'm sure I wore protection though."

Chiyo looked satisfied, which confused him greatly. What was going on.

"Congratulations, you're a grandfather three times over."

If he had been drinking anything, he would have done a rather spectacular spit-take. As it was, he choked on his spit.

"What?!"

"One of the new first years came in because their quirk wasn't functioning properly and asked if I knew any pro heroes with the surname of Yagi. According to her, her grandmother had a brief fling with a pro hero who's name she couldn't remember and for legal purposes the family claimed that the resulting daughter was the child of the woman's fiancee. She was only informed of the truth on the woman's deathbed."

Toshinori was glad he was sitting down, otherwise he would have collapsed in shock. He was a grandfather?

"What's the student's name?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Her quirk is Spirit Sword, and she has the ability to manipulate energy so that it can form a blade of sorts. She must have overdone it with the training because her quirk was on the fritz when her friend convinced her to come in early."

Recovery Girl was kind enough to share Ichigo's student profile with him. After all, this was a lot to take in all at once and he would need time to think about how to proceed.

Toshinori sat down and looked at the folder with trepidation. He had never thought about having kids, as it was too risky letting his hero identity get out.

Being confronted with the fact he not only had a daughter (deceased) but _three_ granddaughters was enough to leave him floored.

How was he supposed to handle this? Suddenly finding out he had grandchildren was the last thing he had expected, and by this point he had already started the transfer of One for All to Izuku.

He had no idea what Ichigo was like, or even what sort of person she was.

He would have to observe her during class to find out whether it was a good idea to approach her or not.

As it was, he would discover in short order what sort of person his granddaughter was. Though he might wish otherwise, considering the circumstances.

* * *

It was just supposed to be a normal, boring exercise. A way to give the first years a taste of what conditions were like in the real world so that they took the training seriously. Ichigo was still a little surprised, but happy, that the class had voted her as their class president with Izuku as her vice president.

Considering her previous schools had labeled her a delinquent after a week, it was a nice change of pace.

Orihime and Chad would have happily informed her that she held herself like a leader and that the other students had picked up on it. As for Izuku...he was surprisingly charismatic, though it was hidden under his shy exterior after years of being bullied.

He took to Ichigo like a duckling though, mostly because the slightly older girl treated him like a little brother from the start. She was sure Yuzu and Karin would join in on that the moment they got to know the kid.

The second Ichigo registered what was going on, and that they were under serious attack by villains who wouldn't hesitate to kill them if given a chance, something inside her snapped.

Recovery Girl had been rather helpful in getting her quirk to recover. What she didn't know was that Ichigo's reserves had already started to recover, now that she was finally relaxing and not trying to use her powers all the time against opponents stronger than her.

Orihime and Chad had shared a look when they saw her hero outfit, which was a slightly more modern version of her clothes in her bankai state. The fact she instinctively formed Tensa Zangetsu using her quirk didn't help either.

Orihime thought back to what Chiyo-sensei told her about PTSD, and suspected Ichigo was a lot more affected by what happened with the Soul Reapers than she let on.

Ichigo gripped the sword in her hand and narrowed her eyes. She needed to protect the kids, who were unprepared for this sort of assault. On the plus side, at least she wasn't up against monsters several times stronger than she was, so there was a chance she wouldn't overdue it like she normally did. Besides, she highly doubted these villains were expecting an experienced combat veteran.


	10. Hikari the Emerald Chapter Two

"How is she?" asked Toshinori with open concern.

"She had a nasty gash and a bad concussion, but she'll be back in class in a day or two. I'm more interested in why her body appears to have some sort of low-level regeneration going on before I used my quirk on her," said Recovery Girl flatly.

Bakugo's attack did not go unpunished. Considering he had attacked_ after_ the exercise was over for his team and had shown his ego was out of control, he had been forcibly demoted to general studies until the psychologist he was forced to see to avoid expulsion said that his behavior was better. He might be able to return to the hero course, but the principal had made it clear that he wasn't going to be in the same class as Midoriya Hikari again.

Especially when the psychological exam revealed that Bakugo had a strong hatred for her because she was "quirkless" and therefor "inferior" to him, yet she had the power and skill to humiliate him easily.

Considering the background check Eraserhead did after the fact, most of this mess could be attributed to the fact that the adults who had the most influence on the teen had heaped unnecessary amounts of praise on him for his quirk and the fact he had a strong chance to enter UA while openly disparaging or mocking Midoriya because she was quirkless and still dared to dream of being a hero. That she still managed to make it in without a quirk was a testiment to her will and dedication.

The school was promptly blacklisted for the next decade at _least_.

"Is there anything else?"

"I have a question. Is she physically capable of handling One for All as she is now, or would she need additional training?" asked Toshinori seriously.

Recovery Girl stared at him in surprise. She knew Toshinori had found a potential candidate he was partial to as his successor, but she had no idea it this girl.

"Physically she might need a bit of training in order to draw it out and use correctly. But why her?" she asked.

"She showed zero hesitation in saving others, even when it means putting herself in harms way. And when given the chance to get revenge on someone she has a legitimate grievance with, she chose only inflict minor humiliation and minimal damage while holding back the majority of her strength. She hasn't allowed her status as 'quirkless' to keep her from being a hero, which is more dedication than most of the heroes I've seen in recent years," said Toshinori simply. "Mostly it was the fact she was openly offended about the idea of not at least trying to save a hostage who was in life-threatening danger simply because she didn't have the proper quirk to deal wit the villain."

That particular moment was the deciding factor. The fact she made it into UA with her own merits rather than with a quirk and had held back on a little payback against someone she disliked had only cemented it.

He genuinely believed Midoriya Hikari was the best candidate for One for All.

Besides...he was really curious if Hikari genuinely _had_ found the way to use magic.

_A few days later..._

Hikari couldn't help but stare when she heard what All Might was offering.

"You want me to become your successor?" she said stunned.

"As you know, I took a major hit five years ago against a rather dangerous villain. As such I've been looking for someone to pass the torch of the next Symbol of Peace to...and I've had no luck until I stumbled upon you," he said.

"Why me?"

"You're dedicated, you have the right mind set and when you had the chance to do some real damage to someone you had a grievance with you chose to hold back and only inflict minor humilation. Mostly it was the way you were so openly offended by the idea of not at least trying to save a hostage dying in front of you, despite the fact you didn't have a quirk that could openly affect the villain," said Toshinori. "I asked Recovery Girl and she said _physically_ you might be able to handle my quirk. The trouble will be training you in how to use it."

"Is it even possible to transfer quirks?" she wondered.

"Considering I was quirkless until the previous user chose me to act as her successor, yes. One for All is unique in that it can be transferred and the power base grows with each user," said Toshinori. "There is one thing I am curious about though... during the fight with young Bakugo, you were chanting something before throwing ice arrows at him."

"I was using Freeze Arrow. It made more sense than using Flare Arrow considering the heat would have made it easier for him. And some of my spells aren't a good idea to use in confined spaces," she said absently, before flinching.

"So you do know magic," said Toshinori. "I had a feeling."

"Wait, you know about magic?"

"I've heard stories about it, and I might have seen a spell being used once...but nowhere near on the level of what you used earlier," he said.

"Not surprising... most of the spell books were ruined by religious persecution and people opted for technological advancement over sorcery," said Hikari. "I was lucky that I accidentally found a way to a place where I can learn how to use magic and fight with a sword when I was seven. My teacher was really enthusiastic about having a minion learn after her."

Her teacher's friends were happier that she wanted to be a hero (which Amelia heartily approved of) rather than the next coming of Lina Inverse.

That being said, Lina definitely had a _strong_ impact on Hikari's personality. She was just better at hiding it.

"What other spells can you do?" he asked.

Hikari thought of what the best one to use was, before she remembered his condition.

She brightened, before she started chanting it. Toshinori blinked when he felt the spell hit him, before a strange sensation bloomed in his stomach. It felt really weird, but not in a bad way.

Hikari let go of the spell a few minutes later, but she looked exhausted.

"Wow... I did not know the damage done to you was _that _extensive," she said.

She would need to hit an all-you-can-eat buffet after this, she just knew it.

(Lina had cried tears of blood upon learning that Hikari's world had places where you could pay a small fee and eat all you want. Without having to actually_ order_ anything, just walk up and pick what you wanted.)

Toshinori had to sweat drop when, as he was discreetly following his new student he heard the restaurant owner cry out in horror that "she" had returned.

Seeing Hikari devour several massive plates of food at an all-you-can-eat buffet was shocking, but not as much as the fact that she was still so tiny. Then again it made sense that magic would require a lot of energy from those using it.

Out of everything she could have expected, being told to eat one of All Might's hairs in order to 'awaken' One for All inside her was _not_ what she thought would happen. Then again, she had done stranger things to learn new magic, but still.

"Now what?"

"Now we have to wait for the...hair...to properly unfold. It's going to take a few hours for it to kick in, and then we can start working on training you," said All Might.

"Sounds reasonable," said Hikari.

_The next morning_...

She could feel it. There was a change in her energy and it seemed like it would take a while to settle in naturally with her magical power.

She had the feeling it would take something to jumpstart it before she could even use it though. Since today was the weekend and there weren't any classes, she was to head to UA before they went to an off-site training area so the staff could see exactly how much "magic" she actually knew. If only so they could adjust their potential training schedule for her.

Considering the healing spell she used on him recently, and her immediate trip to the buffet once she left campus, All Might made sure the principal knew to have plenty of food ready so she could recharge.

Recovery Girl was rather eager to get her hands on the white magic Hikari knew, since a mild one actually managed to _regrow_ parts of Toshinori's liver.

"So what are we going to do anyway?"

"Sparring against heroes, mostly. Since you have a rescue mission on Monday we want to at least get it up and working first so you have a chance to use it during class," said All Might. "We have to push you to the utmost limit in order to wake it up."

"I have to wonder who's going to be more surprised by the end of this..." said Hikari.

_Seven hours later..._

"How is she still going?!" said Present Mic in disbelief.

"I don't know, but she's going to give any villain hell," said Eraserhead, exhausted.

"Man are you guys out of shape," said Hikari.

"How are you still fighting?" asked Present Mic.

"Practice?" said Hikari.

Honestly, she forgot she tended to cast long-term recovery spells on herself before any fight as a matter of habit.

But really, she should probably end this soon otherwise she could start eating into her body's natural fat stores and do some serious damage.

There was a reason why Lina only cast spells like the Ragna Blade and the Giga Slave as an absolute last resort measure. It tended to cause a lot of internal damage on top of utterly draining the magical power in your body.

"But seriously, you're a harder opponent than half the villains we've faced in a long while," said Present Mic, respect clear in his voice.

"You do realize our main goal is to kickstart your new quirk so that we can train it later, right?" said Eraserhead.

Hikari tapped her head with her fist.

"I might have forgot what the original goal was," she said, laughing lightly.

"You're a battle junkie, aren't you?" said Present Mic sweatdropping.

"Nah, it's just that I was having too much fun. It's hard to find decent opponents when your teacher keeps jumping in first for first dibs on the treasure," said Hikari.

"You know what? I'm out. Call in the next victim," said Eraserhead.

"Ditto."

It was a mark against their pride a _fifteen-year-old_ was able to outlast them in a hero-versus-villain battle. If she was this strong now, the villains were going to be screwed.

"I suppose that means I'm up!" said the principal cheerfully. From what he saw, Miss Midoriya wouldn't take his true nature personally and would likely have a lot of fun trying to outwit him.

Even if he found some amusement that her first reaction to meeting him was to stare for a full five seconds before squealing and hugging him. Apparently she had a thing for small and furry things, who knew?

After about thirty minutes 'playing' with the principal, it finally happened. He managed to push her into a pinch big enough that One for All finally kicked in, allowing her to punch the machine using her enhanced strength.

All Might was pouting slightly though.

"Why did you call out 'Pacifist Punch' rather than one of my moves?" he asked.

"Thought it would be funnier. I just know you'd become instant best friends with Prince Phil and his daughter Amelia."

She just knew the second Phil and Amelia meet All Might, they'd love him immediately. Just like All Might would love their sense of justice and honor.

Besides, big sis Amelia was better at white magic than she was. If anyone could heal All Might, it was her or Sylphiel. She was good at white magic, but the bigger stuff like Ressurection was still beyond her level.

"Frankly I'm amazed you're still mobile. From what young Toshinori told me, activating One for All for the first time should have left you unable to move," said Recovery Girl.

"I tend to cast a long-lasting recovery spell on myself before any major fight. I knew there was a high chance the pro heroes wouldn't take it easy on me, and fighting an experienced opponent like Vlad King and Power Loader means I should take them seriously from the get-go otherwise it'd be an insult. That and I've been in way worse pain before...not enough to actually move, but enough that I can at least hobble around a bit."

"Oh no you don't young lady!" scolded Recovery Girl. "All Might, if you would?"

"Hup!"

Hikari blushed like mad as All Might picked her up in a princess carry and deposited her at a large table. The pro hero Lunch-Rush was already waiting for them.

"I've been monitoring your body's stats during the fights, and I noticed you were eating through an insane amount of calories. Frankly I'm surprised you're in such good shape," said Recovery Girl. "Which would explain the rather _healthy_ appetite All Might observed."

Any quirk that ate through _that_ many calories meant that the user would need to eat an insane amount of food to provide an energy source. Otherwise it would eat into their body and cause them to become even more emaciated than Toshinori was outside of his hero form.

Lunch-Rush didn't mind...if anything he was happy there was a student who fully appreciated his abilities as a cook and could give an honest criticism.

Present Mic and Eraserhead weren't the only ones staring at the sheer speed Hikari was going through food.

"Holy...how is she eating that much?!" said Present Mic baffled.

"At this point I'm astounded she's still showing decent table manners with how fast she's going," said Eraserhead just as dumbfounded.

"That's what I like to see in a growing child, a proper appetite," said Lunch-Rush pleased.

Fortunately the spread he put out was big enough that he had the ability to feed the other hungry heroes before finishing up the order for Hikari.

By the time she finally finished, there was a veritable mountain of plates swaying a tad dangerously on the table.

"I haven't eaten that well since the last time I visited Seyruun!" said Hikari happily.

"How many plates did she eat exactly?" said Midnight in shock.

"I honestly lost count after fifty-three," said Power Loader, just as dumbfounded.

"You do realize you can make a betting pool to see what the final count is, right?" said Hikari.

"Now there's an idea," said Nezu with amusement.

(The final count was sixty-seven, with All Might having won the betting pool as he had been secretly keeping count.)


	11. Where You Least Expect It Chapter Two

The day Nozomi called Toshinori "papa" was one he would remember for the rest of his life. It also cemented the feeling Toshinori had developed towards his charge and started the process required to make her his actual daughter.

Nozomi was half asleep after a movie marathon, and he had picked her up to put her in her room so she could get some rest. She had school the next day after all.

Nozomi snuggled into his hold.

"Night, papa," she said quietly, before drifting off to sleep.

Toshinori stood there stunned, still holding her. Nozomi's weight wasn't very hard to maintain for him. A light blush spread across his cheeks as her words hit him.

She had called him 'papa'.

It made him seriously consider his own feelings towards her since he took her in, and he carefully came to the conclusion he had long since stopped viewing her as his 'charge' and more as his 'daughter' a long time ago.

Nozomi was a sweet girl, and was a breath of fresh air after a long day of hero-work.

She had already displayed some skill at cooking, and she always made sure he had something to eat when he got home late. She might not be up when he came, but there was always a meal he could put in the microwave and heat up in a few minutes.

Realizing that Nozomi had slowly slipped from being his charge into his child, he knew there was one course of action he should take.

The next morning, while Nozomi was school Toshinori went to his detective friend to find out what paperwork he needed to file in order to legally adopt her as his daughter. Tsukauchi wasn't surprised in the least, and openly admitted that he expected Toshinori to come in months ago for the paperwork.

"She's been good for you, and I'm glad you taking this step."

"What do you mean?" Toshinori asked confused.

"You've been taking less risks as All Might, and you've been more attentive about injuries you've gotten. You also seem happier in general and it feels like a weight has been taken off your shoulders," said Tsukauchi. "Not to mention from what I've seen, Nozomi-chan has recovered nicely over the shock of her mother's death and has adapted to her new living situation."

"So how long will it take for the paperwork to go through?"

"About a week, maybe less considering your connections. This is mostly a formality after all, since you took her in months ago. You're just making her status as part of your family official in the eyes of the law."

Once the paperwork was filed, it took all of three days for it to come back. Toshinori waited until the next day to tell Nozomi, since he wanted to make a day out of it...and he had to take a bit of time to let it sink in that she was now his daughter.

Several of his colleagues were quick to congratulate him once they heard what he had done. It was all very discreet, and the media seemed to know something big had happened to All Might regarding his personal life, but they managed to keep it hush-hush.

He did _not_ want his daughter to be subjected to the sharks in the media. Not until she entered UA as either a hero or as part of the support class.

Nezu was already quite eager to get her into his school, as her natural ability to analyze quirks and her programming skills made her a valuable asset in helping to calibrate support tech for heroes and had helped a few times when it came to training certain students who had unusual abilities.

Nozomi seemed to sense something was going on when Toshinori took her out to eat on a Saturday. He seemed slightly nervous about something...but it wasn't a bad thing from the way he was acting.

Then...he showed her the paperwork. It took several moments for the writing to sink in, but once it did tears started to well up in her eyes.

The next thing Toshinori knew, his daughter was _bawling_ and hugging him tightly. It took him a bit to realize she wasn't upset, but that she was deliriously _happy_.

"Does this mean I can call you Papa now?" she asked, once she calmed down, eyes full of hope.

"Of course," he said without hesitation. "Naturally I felt such a momentous occasion deserves to have a proper atmosphere... which is why we're going to be spending the day together at that amusement park you liked so much!"

Nozomi's eyes brightened with delight. Her papa had taken her and Shou-chan to an amusement park since Endeavor was "too busy" to actually celebrate his son's birthday. Shouto had been surprised, but quickly warmed up after his sister dropped him off with a wink and they had a blast at the park.

Nozomi had been so mad when she found out that Endeavor didn't even remember his son's birthday at _all_, and had been utterly dismissive about the subject when his daughter tried to bring it up.

(Shouto openly admitted he was jealous of Nozomi because she had Toshinori-san as a father...he might be an absolute dork at times, but he was leagues better than Endeavor on his best day when he deigned to remember someone other than himself. He couldn't remember the last time Endeavor did anything nice for _any_ of his children unless it was to appease his own ego.)

They had a wonderful day, and she walked out of the park with a _ton_ of new prizes. Some of them she would share with Shou-chan later, since he rarely had anything in his room. Endeavor was such an ass that he sometimes got it in his head that things like stuffed animals were 'distractions' from his son becoming a hero.

Shouto was happy for her, but what really had him tearing up was the fact Toshinori-san handed him a spare key to the apartment so that he could discreetly come in and crash whenever being around Endeavor was too much for him to take. He had a bedroom and everything.

Since Toshinori couldn't exactly adopt Shouto as well, despite the suspicions he had about the abuse going on, this was the next best thing.

Shouto's sister Fuyumi would always claim that he was having a study sleepover with his best friend if the police asked where her little brother was. The only reason she still even lived in that caustic home was to protect Shouto, since their older brothers had long since moved as far away from the blowhard the second it became an option.

* * *

Shouto and Nozomi were walking back to the apartment from school when she spotted it. It was a tiny little thing shivering from the suddenly cold thanks to the snow in an alley most people would ignore.

Nozomi took off her jacket and promptly scooped the tiny animal up, and Shouto didn't need to be asked as he discreetly kept the air around her warm with his fire quirk.

He used to hate his fire side until he met Nozomi, who helped him find a way to put a unique spin on his duo-quirks that Endeavor couldn't replicate if he tried...and it was also effective at both pissing the man off _and_ training.

The first time he had unleashed the superheated steam during one of their so-called "training" sessions, Endeavor had ended up scalded pretty good because he had dismissed the sudden fog. For someone with a fire quirk, he never thought mere_ steam_ would be a threat. It was something his flames couldn't protect him from and trying to get rid of the steam only made things worse.

It was now Shouto's go-to method to avoid his father whenever he was forced into a training session and Endeavor was in a foul mood at the time. By the time it cooled enough for him to safely get past it, Shouto would be long gone.

Fuyumi didn't know where Yagi's apartment was, nor did she want to know. She knew her little brother was perfectly safe with him and was probably bonding with his best friend Nozomi.

If those two didn't end up dating by the time they entered UA, she would be shocked.

By the time the two made it to the apartment, a small nose poked out of Nozomi's jacket. It was black and hinted that the animal she was carrying would be utterly _adorable._

They managed to clean the creature off, revealing a small kitten. It had two tails, and something told her that the animal had a quirk...or was possibly a nekomata if she remembered her mythology right.

"Too cute! Think papa would let me keep him?"

"If he says no, then pull the puppy eyed look and he'll cave instantly," said Shouto.

Nozomi had a devastating Puppy-eyed look. She used it on him _once _and he felt like caving to whatever ridiculous demand she made.

Toshinori predictably saw his daughter holding a tiny kitten in her arms with twin-tails, took one look at her expression and sighed. On the plus side she would at least have someone keep her company when he was working late and Shouto was at his house.

"What are you going to name it?" he asked finally. Nozomi beamed at him.

"I'm going to name her Tsuki, because she has this crescent mark on her fur!" said Nozomi. The kitten mewled in her arms.

The tiny kitten didn't grow much bigger, though Toshinori and Shouto felt an inordinate amount of amusement when Eraserhead took _one_ look at her new animal partner and started cooing over it.

It was a little known fact that the underground hero had a major love for all things cat-related.

On an unrelated note, they did get an answer for what Tsuki was. She didn't have a quirk, but she was a rare creature known as a nekomata.

During a villain attack, when Shouto was dragged along by his arrogant father, Tsuki jumped off his shoulder and grew to enormous size with flames to match. Her tiny fangs became long daggers that were similar to a saber-toothed tiger and her tiny frame became large enough to carry a full-sized adult with ease...or two children. The massive fireball she blasted out at a villain that got too close to her Mistress' friend was impressive enough that Endeavor showed a speculative look that Shouto disliked immediately.

The expression on everyone's face when Shouto somehow found himself on Tsuki's back and the cat _flew_ was HILARIOUS. The expression on Nozomi and Toshinori's face when he quickly found himself on the balcony of the apartment? Equally hilarious and he was glad that he had enough warning to take a picture with his phone.

Tsuki was just pleased her mistress liked her power so much that she put her through a full grooming session. She was purring for hours while sleeping it off.

* * *

Nozomi was only kept from running into the room by the strong grip Eraserhead had on her shoulder.

All Might had just been in a very nasty fight, one bad enough that he was immediately hospitalized.

Due to the nature of his injuries, the doctors weren't entirely sure he was going to make it and he had already returned to his base form as Toshinori. All Nozomi knew was that her father had gotten caught up in the fight and was badly injured.

Toshinori still hadn't dared to tell her the truth of him being All Might, even if Nozomi had made it very clear she didn't blame him for her mother's death.

Nozomi's eyes teared up when she saw him in the bed, looking pale as death. Only the machines steady beeping indicating he was still alive kept her from believing the worst.

She broke away from Eraserhead and to Toshinori's side, crying.

"Papa..."

Eraserhead winced. No matter how often he saw it, seeing a child so upset over their pro hero parent being badly injured never got easier.

Nozomi looked utterly horrified hearing the extent of his injuries, but Eraserhead hadn't the heart to take her away. After all, the way she was positioned wouldn't cause any malfunctions and she needed to see for herself that he was still clinging to life.

It was when he came back from getting coffee that had him doing a mass text session with his colleagues in the UA.

Nozomi was so upset hearing the extent of her father's injuries and knowing how close he was to dying that she put enough stress on her body to awaken a latent quirk none of them knew she even _had_.

Recovery Girl had given her the 'birds and bees' talk, since Toshinori was utterly pants at it and had left his daughter more confused than anything, and in the process did a proper exam of Nozomi to see if she genuinely was quirkless or if she had a latent one like Midnight had.

As it turned out, there was a possibility she _might_ eventually awaken a quirk, but the odds were so low that it wasn't worth trying.

Nozomi had translucent wings on her back that looked almost like a fairies, and she was crying too hard to notice the odd glow she was giving off. Whatever she was doing was causing the machine indicating Toshinori's heart rate to steadily and calmly go up in a way that said his body wasn't being put into any undo stress...but was more likely being _healed_ by an external force.

Needless to say the doctors were quick to come see what was going on, but Eraserhead held them back.

"She hasn't noticed yet, and I have the feeling she's going to be rather weak after awakening her quirk like this."

The doctor's nodded, and allowed the girl to finish whatever it was she was doing.

As predicted, Nozomi fainted almost right after with her wings disappearing in the process. The doctors immediately inspected the wounded hero, and found that the worst of the damage was healed over. He would have to remain hospitalized and would have to take it easy for a week or two, but he would live.

When Toshinori woke up, the first thing he saw was his daughter curled up on the couch nearby...with an IV drip on her. He looked to Eraserhead.

"I have two pieces of good news. One, the doctors said you'd make a mostly full recovery."

"What's the other?"

"Apparently she was so distraught at seeing you like in the bed near death that she woke up a latent quirk...a _recovery-_type quirk at that."

His head whipped towards Nozomi. That certainly explained the IV.

"The awakening and the healing session caused her temperature to spike, so the doctors put her on a drip to lower her temperature and help her recover any nutrients she used up just in case," he explained.

Either way having a healing-based quirk was extremely rare and meant that if she wanted to join the hero course at UA, she could get a recommendation easily. Healer-based heroes were very valuable, especially if they could do more than minor scrapes and most hero schools would jump at the chance to have them. It was why Recovery Girl was paid a premium and stayed at UA...it was the only place she could get any peace and Nezu never asked her to do more than she was willing.

If Nozomi could get the handle on it and learn to be like Recovery Girl, or however her quirk worked to heal, then she would become very popular indeed.

Being a pro hero wouldn't be a dream anymore...it could become a reality in very short order once she graduated.

_The next morning..._

"I have a quirk?!" said Nozomi in utter shock.

"Some quirks remain latent beyond the age of four because your body isn't able to handle the stress of having it active. Midnight didn't awaken hers until after she hit puberty," said Nezu. "From what we can tell, yours is a possible recovery-based quirk. Once we figure out how to get it working consistently it would be child's play to get you an admission into UA later on a recommendation spot."

"I thought they were already filled," said Nozomi.

"Healing based quirks are rare and coveted, so much so that most hero schools would fight to have one on staff for their infirmary," explained Eraserhead.

"As such if we can get your quirk to heal consistently, then giving you a similar recommendation spot and placing you in the same class as Shouto-kun would be ridiculously simple," said Nezu. The two worked well together as a team and he wasn't above rigging the circumstances for the teacher's betting pools for fun.

Todoroki Shouto was more inclined to follow Yagi's lead than his father's footsteps, and considering Endeavor's tunnel vision it would be better to continue that trend.

Besides, he had already discreetly approved Shouto's request to move into the dorms the second he was old enough to attend UA.


	12. Unexpected Relations Chapter Two

Whatever the teachers expected when they finally got word that the USJ was under attack, this was not it.

There were bodies, thankfully _alive_, on the ground groaning in a way that indicated they weren't inclined to get up and fight back.

The surprising thing was that the bodies of the _villains_ that had attacked the USJ were the ones on the ground. Whatever had done the damage came at them with all the force of a hammer going at high speeds. They were too beaten up to even consider retaliating.

The thing was that the one who caused this much damage wasn't one of the teachers...this wasn't Eraserhead's style and Thirteen had next to no experience in combat as he preferred rescue work.

No, the culprit was the recently discovered _granddaughter_ of All Might, Kurosaki Ichigo. Rather than try to stop her close friend, Orihime merely sighed and was already at work trying to heal the teachers who were apparently in shock at the sheer devastation Ichigo was causing by soloing the villains.

"What exactly is going on here?" asked Nezu, more than a little alarmed. Even All Might was stunned at the damage his granddaughter was causing.

"Ichigo took offense to the fact that villains deliberately targeted a class of children just to lure a pro hero out for what could only be a death match," said Orihime simply as she finished up with Thirteen. "The fact she had the element of surprise and the fact that her quirk is finally working well enough to be of use didn't help matters."

Ichigo looked rather bewildered at the way All Might tried to coddle her because of her age.

Being a teenager hadn't helped with the Soul Society who kept demanding more and more of her, so why were the heroes suddenly treating her like a child that needed protecting?

Orihime winced at the expression on Ichigo's face, and could already tell the principal would be having a long talk with them later. Ichigo would likely refuse to give any real explanation and Chad might very well attempt to hug the principal for being small and adorable. Which left her to give the adults a reasonable explanation for Ichigo's hair trigger reaction to the attack on the facility.

This was going to be a long, slightly painful talk.

* * *

_In the hospital tent..._

Recovery Girl was less than impressed with the fact Ichigo dove in after her quirk finally started to show signs of recovering from whatever she had done with it. And she made it known in _spades_.

Regardless of the fact Ichigo managed to protect the students long enough for the other teachers to arrive, the fact was that she might have done more damage with her stunt.

Unknown to Ichigo, Orihime was having an overdue talk with the teachers.

"Inoue-san, I believe an explanation is in order," said Nezu seriously.

Orihime winced...but she didn't try to cover anything up.

"Up until roughly five months ago, Ichigo has been part of a large group that took the fact that her quirk is similar to their own abilities as a reason to make her help deal with their problems. When her quirk was unable to work, they used it as a reason to drop her and pretend she didn't exist anymore, despite the fact they had been throwing her into life and death battles for the better part of a year," said Orihime.

It wasn't like they'd believe about the Soul Society, but pretending it was a very secret group that had similar abilities was potentially doable.

Nezu looked very unhappy about this information.

"What is the name of this group?"

"The Thirteen Court Guard squads, but they call themselves Soul Reapers for short," said Orihime. "One of their members was gravely injured during a routine mission and Ichigo helped her out...except she was unaware at the time that her help was considered 'forbidden' by their laws. When they found out what happened, they arrested and attempted to execute the member as a rogue but Ichigo stopped them and accidentally revealed a plot that would have caused a lot of death and destruction. Since the villain had made it clear he intended to target Karakura, including Ichigo's family, Ichigo decided to help out as a substitute member. However the final blow caused her quirk to malfunction, which was around the time they decided to pretend she didn't exist," said Orihime.

All technically true, without explaining about the afterlife or anything else they were unlikely to believe.

Nezu looked distinctly unhappy.

"I take it that Kurosaki-san was an major player in these events?"

"She was one of their strongest fighters and was often on the front lines against opponents that could kill her if she made a single wrong move. She had only minimal training against people with decades of experience," said Orihime. "She was quite close to several people who was on our side, so she was particularly hurt when they left."

All Might looked particularly upset about the fact his granddaughter very likely had PTSD and abandonment issues. It was clear there would be a number of issues that she would need to deal with in order to become a pro hero. Not that Orihime knew that at the moment.

"Is she a danger to herself or others?" asked Eraserhead.

Orihime shook her head.

"She's not suicidal, it's just that she's developed instincts more in line with a samurai than a hero. So long as her family and innocent civilians aren't being threatened, she'll be fine," said Orihime. "However if a villain comes after her or those under her protection with the intent to kill with overwhelming force, she won't hesitate to respond with equal force."

All Might winced. That could go rather badly if the press found out after the worst time. Just one look at the damage she did to the villains here would have them eating her alive.

Somehow he had the feeling she would work better as an underground hero like Eraserhead than a public one like himself.

* * *

_Two days later..._

It wasn't as bad as they thought...it was _worse_. Ichigo definitely had a _mild_ case of PTSD (if there was such a thing). About the only good thing was that she wasn't suicidal or revenge driven, but she was unusually driven to dealing with overwhelming force with lethal intent.

She was also far too cavalier about going into a fight where there would be actual life and death situations without a second thought about her own safety.

While she did have the general mindset of a proper hero, it was clear that they had some work to do in order to keep her from accidentally killing villains. Regardless of how good she was in a fight, there were times when it wasn't a good idea to send teenagers into battle.

All Might certainly didn't appreciate the fact his granddaughter had been _conditioned_ to be able to face overwhelming odds where she could get killed and not bat an eye at the whole thing. Or that she could produce an intent to kill and actually _mean_ it.

It was past time he told her who he was and hopefully open up the lines of communication between them. Besides, he wanted to meet his other grandchildren too.

Meeting her grandfather face to face was pretty strange. And that was _before_ she found out what his pro hero identity was.

"You have got to be kidding... my grandfather is _All Might_?" she said, face twitching.

Karin was going to have a field day with this and laugh her ass off.

Toshinori deflated back into his usual self.

"So Recovery Girl did know who you were. That explains why she didn't say anything."

It was pretty obvious why Recovery Girl kept silent...a hero like All Might had a lot of enemies, and almost as many people trying to get a piece of his fame and spotlight. A granddaughter showing up out of the blue was pretty damn suspicious.

"I understand if it's a lot to take in all at once."

"After what I went through because of Rukia and the others, finding out my grandpa is the number one pro hero for the past couple of decades is pretty tame. At least it's not Endeavor," said Ichigo.

She had heard things about Endeavor. Since she originally planned to be a hero anyway, she wanted to learn more about them. Endeavor was not only the second best hero, but he was also one of the _worst_. He had one of the highest number of civilian complaints and most of the insurance companies in the area he generally worked in had an "Endeavor clause" to get through the paperwork faster.

"Karin is going to laugh her ass off about this, and Yuzu is going to try and fatten you up the second she sees how skinny you are," said Ichigo.

"Your sisters?"

"The twins. Yuzu took over for mom after she died, and Dad went from mostly tolerable to a complete idiot that lives to embarrass the hell out of us," said Ichigo.

She pulled out the most recent family photo, taken after she got into UA. Isshin and the twins came to visit for the occasion and even Kon was in it.

Kon was just relieved Ichigo was a girl...no one questioned why a girl had a stuffed doll in her room. A few beatings was totally worth the view in his opinion. Ichigo even picked up a few fashion magazines for him to look at from time to time.

"The black haired one is Karin, and the other is Yuzu. The idiot is our dad Isshin, and the doll is Kon," said Ichigo.

If there was one perk to living in a world of quirks, it was that no one really questioned the fact that a _doll_ was talking. Toshinori mostly blinked when the obvious stuffed animal came out of her bag and sat on her shoulder.

"So nice to be included for once."

"Bet you love the fact that no one will bat an eye to you when the principal is just as furry and small as you," said Ichigo.

Kon snorted. Nezu wasn't human either, so most of the teachers wouldn't look twice at him once they knew he could talk and was intelligent. If anyone understood what it was like to be experiments on and treated as less than human, it was him.

Ichigo gave Kon an annoyed look.

"Just so we're clear, if the girls find you in the locker rooms and find out you can talk, I won't stop them from using you as a punching bag," said Ichigo flatly.

"Worth it!" said Kon. Ichigo rolled her eyes.

"What's that about the locker rooms?" said Toshinori.

"Kon's a pervert. He has a habit of using his small size to peep on girls, but that's the extent of it. If he gets busted, then I'm not going to stop the girls from punching the crap out of him," said Ichigo flatly. "It's not like he has the ability to do anything else and really, he can act as a watcher for the locker rooms from the other boys since the worst he'll do is watch."

Ichigo would warn the girls about Kon, but would also make it clear that they were free to beat him up if he annoyed them too much. Unlike that obnoxious pervert Mineta Minoru from class B that Chad complained about, Kon didn't objectify women. He just liked to look...which was the only reason Ichigo tolerated him.

As it turned out, Ichigo had a lot in common with her grandfather. They both loved the pre-quirk classics, they both knew the same movies and book series.

* * *

The girls in the class took one look at Kon and then at Ichigo.

"So just to be clear, you have a perverted stuffed toy that likes to peep on girls," said Yaoyorozu.

"The worst he'll do is watch, and if he irritates you enough I could care less if you use him like a punching bag. He's used to it and as long as the core remains undamaged he can be stitched up."

"And we should allow this...why?" asked Yaoyorozu.

"Because the worst he'll do is watch and he's actually pretty good at spotting abuse victims. He can act as a watcher for our things in case someone tries to rip off the lockers or if one of the boys like that creep in class B I heard about manages to sneak in with any recording equipment," said Ichigo. "He just likes to look and he doesn't have the equipment to actually _do_ anything."

"I don't like this," said Yaoyorozu.

"Again, I have no problems with any of you beating him up if he irritates you and he doesn't objectify women. He knows better. Most of the women he knows can kick his ass anyway, I just thought I should give you all the heads up in case you bust him in the locker rooms. Besides, I won't let him get any recording equipment since he relies on me to actually _pay_ for it," said Ichigo.

"He's kinda cute, I guess," said Tsuyu.

"So...how did you meet a talking doll?" asked Izuku curious.

"I needed some specialty items, and a friend bought the wrong thing. The guy she bought it from came to take it back, but I decided I wasn't comfortable with him being destroyed just for existing, when the people who made him were only doing it to destroy evidence of a failed experiment," said Ichigo.

"Seriously?" said Yaoyorozu.

"It was an underground project with a lot of shady scientists with less than decent morals. The basic idea was to bring back dead heroes to fight villains, but the whole project was scrapped after the higher ups got the full details. Too much bad press for them to like. So they decided to destroy the evidence, completely ignoring the fact that they had _actual_ artificial intelligence on their hands. Kon is the only known survivor of the project. Way I figured was that if it could possess a dead body, then it could possess a doll. He might be a pervert, but he has a strong respect for the sanctity of life and he's pretty good at getting people out of the line of fire with his speed quirk."

"Speed quirk?" said Iida.

"Like you he has some pretty strong legs. I know for a fact he's managed to jump from ground level to a third floor window in one move."

"And the teachers are okay with this?"

"Principal Nezu found him fascinating and once he made very sure there was no surveillance equipment he said that as long as the girls were okay with a slightly perverted watch-dog in the lockers they would allow it."

Kon was equally fascinated by Nezu. The two of them hit it off immediately...mostly because both of them knew exactly what it was to be subject to the whims of immoral human scientists who were all too happy to use them as stress relief.


	13. Crystalized Hope Chapter Two

It took all of three seconds for Todoroki to realize Midoriya must have forgotten to visit Recovery Girl before class when he spotted the fact her ankle was still taped up.

Unfortunately, so did Bakugo.

"Geez, you hopeless idiot! Did you trip over your stupid feet _again?"_ he said loudly.

Midoriya flinched, and the way she did so brought to mind several unpleasant memories of his mother right before the incident. It didn't paint a happy picture at all.

"Gods Bakugo, can you be any _less_ of a complete asshole?" said Yaoyorozu in disgust. His attitude towards someone as sweet and gentle as Hikari _really_ pissed her off. Especially the way Hikari reacted.

Aizawa walked in, took one look at Midoriya and openly frowned.

"I thought I told you to visit Recovery Girl before class Midoriya."

Hikari winced.

"She's stupid enough to trip on her own feet trying to get there," sneered Bakugo.

Aizawa glared at him.

"One more comment like that and I am downgrading you to General Studies."

That pissed off Bakugo.

"Why?!" he demanded.

"There are many things I do not tolerate, and abuse happens to be at the top of that list. I don't know or care how your previous teachers treated you because of your flashy quirk, but in UA there is a zero tolerance to bullying and harassment. _Especially_ if it's proven to be a detriment to the victim's studies."

Yaoyorozu raised her hand.

"Sir...why would Hikari need to visit Recovery Girl before class?"

"She was practicing her quirk last night under my supervision when there was a minor accident. Recovery Girl had already gone home and it was a minor sprain, so I sent Midoriya home with strict instructions to visit the nurse before class today."

That seemed to ease the worries of the students, but it was Bakugo's reaction that made Aizawa leery.

"She probably tripped on her feet again."

"What makes you claim that?" asked Aizawa calmly.

"She's always coming in with sprained ankles and shit. Everyone knows she's a total klutz," said Bakugo dismissively.

Todoroki was pissed, partially because of his dismissive attitude but also because he was drawing some rather uncomfortable parallels between Midoriya and his mother.

"Actually she was performing a really complicated ice skating set when I startled her and she landed wrong," said Todoroki flatly. He was still surprised there was an ice-skating rink in the UA of all things, but he wasn't going to comment on it.

Ochako spoke up at that point, face brightening.

"Oh yeah! You said you sent the wrong sketch in, didn't you Hikari? I should have guessed you were a really good skater if you were making an outfit to go pro!"

That made the other girls nod.

"That loser, skate? I'll believe it when I see it," sneered Bakugo.

Hikari wilted in her seat. Skating was one of her few hobbies, and she didn't want it tainted by Bakugo's cruel words.

Aizawa's glare was enough to shut Bakugo up, but the damage was done.

Todoroki volunteered to take Hikari to the nurse's office, while Aizawa pulled out a form from his desk. While Bakugo had a lot of potential to be a hero, his attitude and behavior wasn't enough to off-set it.

He could tell keeping Hikari in the same class as the explosive boy was only doing more harm than good, and right now what Bakugo needed wasn't more training but a slap to his overgrown ego.

Aizawa wasn't about to let this abusive behavior continue under his watch, or turn a blind eye to the fact Bakugo's ego and pride was clearly out of control.

* * *

_The next morning..._

It took the students a few moments to register that Bakugo was beyond late to homeroom.

"Has anyone seen Bakugo this morning?" asked Mina.

Hikari shook her head.

Aizawa walked in, looking slightly irritable.

Seeing everyone was in class, he waited for the inevitable questions.

"Quiet down," he said calmly. Everyone settled. "As I'm sure you've noticed by now, one of you is missing. Rest assured Bakugo Katsuki is still a member of UA...however effective immediately he has been bumped down to General Studies until next year at the most."

"Why was he reassigned?" asked Iida, asking the question everyone was dying to know.

Not that they were complaining, mind you. Bakugo was an ass.

Aizawa looked exhausted.

"One of the things UA does not and will not ever tolerate is abuse. The principal hopes that removing him from the vicinity of his main victim will give them both a chance to move past the bad habits formed due to the incompetence of their previous teachers."

Hikari wilted slightly, realizing he meant her. Still it gave her hope that the teachers at UA had recognized Bakugo was rather cruel towards her and had made sure to put them in different classrooms.

What she didn't know was that her previous school was effectively blacklisted from sending in applications, since they had white-washed the fact Bakugo was a complete bully and that she was his primary victim. They never would have put the two into the same class had that come to light.

Hikari found herself surrounded by her incredibly supportive classmates.

_After classes..._

Hikari approached Aizawa.

"Sir, why _did_ you move Bakugo to the general studies?"

"Have you ever heard of battered woman syndrome?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"You were displaying several of the warning signs of being 'abused' by your former classmate. The only reason he wasn't expelled outright was the fact that there was a chance the main reason he had such bad habits was because the teachers at your last school never corrected his attitude problem and inflated his ego because of his quirk. We're hoping keeping you two in different classes will allow him to mature a bit without having his usual victim around."

The principal had agreed with it only because Bakugo had never physically abused Hikari, only verbally attacked her. The hope was that removing him from the same class as her would allow her to heal properly and gain enough self-confidence that she could fight back against such behavior.

The abuse had done enough damage in the fact that everyone had assumed she was quirkless for so long.

Seeing her expression, he was quick to assure her (in his own way) that it wasn't her fault.

"This entire mess can be pinned on your former teachers. If they hadn't put so much emphasis on his quirk and spent more time doing their jobs, things wouldn't have gotten this bad. Any decent teacher would have noticed Bakugo's obvious bullying and the way he convinced others to join in and put a stop to it long before now."

Hikari was visibly unhappy...but the fact was she believed him. She remembered how the others had reacted to her application being accepted to the UA exam, despite the fact her cramps kept her home that day.

Bakugo had been _extra_ vicious the next morning. And it wasn't hard to recall what a complete bastard her old homeroom teacher had been, with his snide comments about how she shouldn't even try for pro hero because she was "quirkless".

"Don't blame yourself for his behavior," said Aizawa firmly.

"I don't. I blame the fact our current society puts too much emphasis on flashy quirks and the fact our old teachers were all complete idiots who were all too happy to praise him because of his quirk and the fact he had the highest chance to get into UA because of it," said Hikari. "Never mind the fact none of them _ever_ questioned my claim of being 'clumsy' for the fact I kept coming to class with minor injuries that I got from practicing the harder skating moves."

Even so, Aizawa kept a close eye on her. Fortunately it seemed they caught this in time, because she appeared to be healing and developing more confidence in herself with Bakugo transferred to another class. Learning the teachers would never assign them to the same class again had helped a lot too.

* * *

"Did something good happen today?" asked Inko. Her daughter seemed considerably more cheerful since yesterday.

"Aizawa-sensei transferred Bakugo to the General Education course and made it clear that the teachers wouldn't put us in the same class ever again," said Hikari.

Inko was not oblivious enough to miss the hidden subtext in her words. Clearly the teachers at UA had finally noticed the bullying her poor daughter had to endure and had taken steps to correct it.

The sheer relief in Hikari's voice alone said volumes of how happy she was that she wouldn't be stuck in the same class as Bakugo ever again.

"What did the teachers say about the outfit mix-up?"

Hikari blinked.

"I completely forgot about that. It was surprisingly easy to move in and it suits my quirk better than the original one I designed, even if I only drew it up for when I got enough sponsors later," said Hikari.

Inko was rather confused.

"I thought your quirk was some sort of strength power? How would an ice-skating uniform suit that?"

Hikari winced.

"That was something I developed later... I never wanted to say anything because of the cat."

Inko didn't need any further clues to guess why her daughter kept quiet. She had always been horribly upset and oddly guilty about the fact Mrs. Ishigaki had lost her cat to unknown circumstances. Inko had put her foot down on the woman's presence after hearing her daughter cry over it.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry you went through being labeled as quirkless for all these years because of that horrible woman," said Inko, hugging her daughter. Hikari hugged her back twice as hard.

* * *

_A week later..._

Aizawa kept silent on the surprise some of the class had in store for Hikari.

Recovery Girl had made it clear she wanted Hikari to get used to using her ice quirk in public. To that end she wanted to slowly get Hikari used to having others watching her quirk in action.

Which to Hikari meant that they had to watch or possibly even join in on the ice skating rink she created with her quirk.

It was lucky that Hikari wasn't doing any difficult moves when five of them came in. And that Recovery Girl knew before hand that they would be interrupting her set. This time if she had an accident she would be on hand to fix her up.

Hikari stumbled a bit, but at least this time she didn't sprain her ankle when her classmates startled her.

"Oh wow! You said you were good, but I had no idea you were this good!" said Ochako enthusiastically.

"Seriously girl, now I get why you said you wanted to go pro!" said Mina.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Recovery Girl's idea," said Aizawa. "She wants you to get acclimatized to using your ice quirk around others."

"So you used your quirk to make an ice rink? That's pretty creative," said Momo.

"Easiest way to train my quirk without the adults or worse, Bakugo finding out what it was."

"So what all can you do with your quirk?" asked Ochako.

Hikari sent a blast of ice to their feet. It took them a few seconds to realize she had just made ice skates for her friends.

"That is seriously cool," said Mina.

"Can I get a pair of spiked boots? My skating ability isn't that great," asked Iida.

"Sure. You can sit with Aizawa-sensei, since he has a pair too," said Hikari. A quick blast of her quirk had him in spiked boots.

Hikari slowly began to relax as she guided her classmates in a quick skating lesson.

Todoroki had the easiest time of it. Then again he had dabbled in using his quirk to make an ice rink a few times before...at least until Endeavor found out about his hobby and effectively ruined it for him.

Hikari stared at him for a few moments when she realized he was doing some of the harder moves with ease.

"Ever try doing some of the paired moves?" she asked.

Todoroki blinked and stared at her.

"Paired moves...? You mean like partnered skating?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Do it!" said Ochako enthusiastically.

"Yeah! It would be awesome seeing the two of you skate together! Especially with how good you are already solo!" said Mina.

And it might tip the scales towards the two getting together, which would be awesome since it meant the girls would have something to gossip about and watch.

Todoroki looked intrigued at the idea.

"If you're going to do it, then wait till the weekend. You've already spent enough time here today," said Aizawa.


	14. A Quirk in Time Chapter One

**_Time Travel AU set before Toshinori gains One for All, much less becomes a Pro Hero._**

* * *

The day he first met the girl he would swear up and down had to be an angel, he had just gotten his ass kicked because he refused to give up his dream of being a hero. Even if he didn't have a quirk, he was determined to join UA.

He knew he had a concussion...he was too dizzy to even consider sitting up, much less walking. And there was no one at home to worry about him.

So when a head of verdant green attached to a cute face appeared in his field of vision, his first thought was that he was hallucinating.

"Wow. Who did you piss off?"

He felt someone carefully pull him up, and he had just enough coherent thought to try and walk rather than have the girl drag him.

When he found himself in a slightly out of the way flower shop, sitting in the back, he tried his best to focus on the girl who helped him.

She muttered something under her breath, and the flower hair pins in her hair glowed before two parts of the six flower petals broke off and formed an off-shape oval.

He felt the difference immediately...it was obvious she had a strong healing quirk because his concussion was rapidly healing over and his dizziness was passing. Even the cracked ribs were healing themselves.

When she was done, the two parts that broke off rejoined to become part of the left flower in her hair.

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

"So what did you do to earn such a nasty beating?" she asked, openly concerned.

He tried to avert his gaze.

"I want to join UA, and three of my classmates disagreed. Vehemently."

Something in the way he was acting caused her to give him a look he couldn't readily identify. He would later recognize empathy.

"Let me guess...they have flashy quirks and think they're hot stuff that would get admitted into UA instantly because of it, and the teachers are more likely to praise them for their quirk rather than stop their behavior," she half-guessed.

He nodded miserably.

"The fact I'm quirkless doesn't help either."

"They're idiots. Anyone can have a flashy quirk, but it takes someone with real heart and courage to be a _hero_. Just because they have an impressive ability means nothing if they don't know how to use it correctly. I knew a teacher in a hero school who was known for throwing out his entire homeroom class because they thought being a hero was all about being flashy and looking good for the media instead about _helping_ people," she said in annoyance. "Everyone thought _I_ was quirkless for years until we found out it was because I didn't have the proper focusing tool for my ability."

Seeing the hope in his eyes, he knew then and there he had met an angel. It wasn't the fact she had healed him and had shown disgust that his classmates had beaten him up for wanting to be a hero.

It was what she said next that cemented it and would start a friendship that would last for a lifetime.

"I don't care what anyone says. Even someone without a quirk can be a hero. You just have to work harder at it than the rest to make up for what you lack. Support companies exist for a reason after all and if nothing else you can be their testing dummy for new gear for heroes before they can be marketed for specialized use while helping people."

Something about the way she said that made him remember a pre-quirk hero who was able to fight toe-to-toe with the major villains without getting killed for it.

"You mean like Batman?"

"Without the emo and angst," she agreed. "Or the bank account and fake playboy personality. Personally I'm more of a Marvel fan myself, but it's such a pain finding the comics since quirks became the norm."

His face lit up.

"You like pre-quirk comics?"

"I like the classics. I mean you have to wonder if _X-Men_ wasn't a scarily similar version of what happened when quirks first appeared, considering how mutants would fit in perfectly in our society today without having to hide."

He wondered if this was what it was like to be in love. Not only did she encourage his dream, but she liked pre-quirk classics!

"Where are my manners. My name is Toshi," he said with a beaming smile.

"Nozomi," she said smiling back.

Toshi became a frequent visitor to the shop. Mostly to visit with Nozomi, who worked/lived there. Imagine his surprise when he found out that she was home-schooled, and could make scarily detailed observations about quirks! Watching her break down a rookie hero's quirk was both fascinating and openly terrifying, because she was very efficient at making a general guess of what their quirks actually did and what they could do to make improvements.

Reading her notebooks was scary enough. There were pages upon pages about quirk analysis that went into more detail than most people would imagine. He had to wonder if other heroes put this much time and effort to learn about their quirk and how to use it.

Being around Nozomi was like a breath of fresh air. The first time his bullies ran into her, they soon regretted harassing him in front of her.

She didn't use her quirk (though how a healing quirk could be used offensively he didn't know) to kick _their_ asses and make them run screaming for their mothers.

"How did you do that?"

"Aikido and some karate. Before quirks or even guns were around, people learned how to use their bodies to defend themselves. Martial arts is one thing the villains can't take from you and are perfectly legal regardless of what country you're in."

Toshi didn't even think twice about what he said next.

"Can you teach me?" he asked.

Nozomi grinned at him.

"It's a good thing you know how to take a punch, because you're going to be receiving a lot of them," she replied.

Toshi would soon learn that was an understatement. When he asked for training, nothing could have prepared him for the next year of absolute _torture_. However he wasn't complaining...he could feel himself getting stronger month by month and his movements were much more fluid and less like a colt learning how to run for the first time.

It was during one of his rare days off when he was eating at a ramen stand that he would have a meeting that would change his life almost as much as Nozomi already had, and pave the way towards his future as the top pro hero.

That day he met the woman who offered to give him a quirk that all but insured he would become a hero. She definitely approved of the training regimen Nozomi had him on. She was not, however pleased when she learned he had told Nozomi about One for All.

(It would be at least a decade or two before he found out the cause of her sudden one-eighty in regards to his slip-up. Even then he still didn't fully believe it.)

* * *

_Nozomi POV_

In retrospect, she should have seen it coming two years ago. Seriously, how dense was she that she _missed_ who Toshi was?

Quirkless, oddly charismatic and a drive to become a hero despite the odds with bangs like that?

If she hadn't seen him transform into a much younger but oh-so-familiar hero, she likely never would have figured it out until they were at UA together and they gave his full name.

Toshi...short for Toshinori _Yagi_, aka All Might.

Nozomi was glad Toshi wasn't around once she got home, because she had kicked herself repeatedly for not realizing who he was until he used One for All in front of her for the first time.

His teacher had been wary of having her in the know...right up until Nozomi took her aside after realizing who her best friend was and told her the truth. Once she found out Nozomi was the _ninth_ inheritor of One for All, picked by the young man she had just chosen as her successor, her credibility went up.

To be fair, even Nozomi hadn't expected her hair pins to have the ability to travel through actual _time_ if she put enough power into them with all six fairies out. That being said when she saw that idiot Kirishima again, she was going to kick his ass because she had no idea how to get back to her own time and was now stuck several decades into the past.

She just hadn't realized how far back she had gone until now. Sure, she knew the dates and had been annoyed by it, but she had no clue she had gone so far back that she would meet All Might before he ever gained One for All, much less joined UA!

Well, nothing for it. Nothing really changed realizing Toshi was the untested and still naive version of All Might.

Though it did make her growing crush on him even more unspeakably awkward, because in her time Toshinori Yagi was the closest thing she had to a father figure in her life, and in this lifetime he was potential _boyfriend_ material.

Kurenai-nee-san, who had taken her in once she proved she knew her way around flowers, hadn't stopped teasing her about the fact that Toshinori had an obvious crush towards her that would swiftly developing into something more if she ever gave him the okay.

All too soon the UA entrance exam approached.

* * *

Toshinori looked at the red head his best friend had laid out flat with a single right cross.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked.

"Possibly not, but something about him screamed 'punch my lights out' to me for some reason. That and his arrogance pissed me off."

He reminded her of Bakugo at his absolute WORST, when he acted more like a villain than hero and his ego/pride was running completely out of control. The fact this asshat looked entirely too familiar wasn't helping, and she had the sneaking suspicion she knew EXACTLY who this hot-headed ass was going to grow up to be once he graduated.

If she was right, then her right cross was going to be a preemptive payback for his wife and children for being a complete dick.

Nozomi felt justified the second she was given detention for punching out a recommendation student after she heard his name. Though the detention's punishment was downsized once she pointed out that if he couldn't take a hit from a girl who got in on a "healer's scholarship" then how was he supposed to last against actual villains?

People with _useful_ healing quirks were so rare that most hero schools would fight to have them attend. So much so that once a student passed the basic entrance exam they were automatically admitted into the school with all their fees and supplies paid for...under the provision that they spent a set amount of time working in the infirmary until graduation.

Which meant her quirk made her infinitely more valuable than the hot head's fire power. Hence why she only got a light slap on the wrist and told to clean the infirmary on their day off as punishment.

"What exactly did he do to piss you off anyway?" asked Toshinori.

"He asked me out on a date, as if I would consider a quirkest like him worth my time. The fact I'm one of the better looking girls in the class and the one most likely to make hero didn't help," said Nozomi in disgust.

To be fair, it wasn't _her_ fault that most of the class didn't really stand out with their quirks. Sure, they were moderately useful but it was pretty clear to anyone who knew what to look for that they were unlikely to be more than "B-List" heroes who were more filler than anything. The kind of people who either got stuck in the sidekick role or eventually quit.

Nozomi almost missed the dark look that crossed Toshinori's face hearing _that._ Clearly he was not pleased that this "Enji" guy was already trying to pick up the girl he had a crush on and had been best friends with for years.

(Nozomi would be torn between either laughing or sighing about the fact that she inadvertently kick-started the epic rivalry between Endeavor and All Might years before it would have begun. Especially considering _why_ it started.)

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Enji glared at the loser that until now had registered as quirkless because his ability woke up late.

"What was that, trash?" he snarled.

"I said keep your hands off Nozomi. There's no way I'm going to let someone who only wants her for her quirk to date her, considering she's my best friend," said Toshinori, staring down the hothead without hesitation.

"What makes you think a loser like you has any chance with her? You barely know how to use your own quirk. Besides, what girl wouldn't want to date someone like me, who's almost guaranteed to be the top hero once I graduate and start working as a pro hero?" sneered Enji.

"You're an arrogant ass who doesn't even care for her as a hero, much less as a person. All you see is her quirk and her looks," said Toshinori, glaring. "Besides, she's her own person...so long as she's happy I don't care who she dates."

Though deep down he hoped she would look at him like that, he knew better than to try and push the issue and possibly turn her off on the idea of dating. He had been crushing on her for years since he realized she was encouraging him to be a hero long before Nana-sensei passed down her quirk to him.

Even now, Nozomi was one of his strongest supporters and would merely sigh in exasperation before patching him up after training with Gran Torino.

Enji sneered at him.

"Next heroes versus villains exercise, I'm going to roast your ass so bad you'll never recover."

"And I'm going to punch your face to hard through the wall it will make your mother unable to recognize you," said Toshinori glaring with intent.

Nozomi had a rather odd look on her face when she had to patch them up after the exercise...mostly when she found out what the two were arguing about after the fact.

Toshinori took the surprisingly strong head slap as his due... that ass Enji totally deserved the broken bones he got, looking at his friend like that! Nozomi was more than just a mere breeding tool!


	15. The Best There Ever Was Chapter One

**_A Ranma is reborn as Izuku fic. Enjoy!_**

* * *

In retrospect, perhaps jumping into the strange vortex that was almost certain to get him reincarnated was a bit...overkill. Then again after all the chaos he experienced in his life, that level of overkill was not only expected, but was more or less a necessity to escape the prison his life had become.

Did he have any regrets? Sure.

He was certain his mother and a few others would be unhappy that he was basically ditching a rather large number of females who would be more than happy to bear his children. Some were rather enthusiastic about the idea and made no bones how eager they were to perform the required deed for that to happen.

Others, namely Akane, felt more like a burden that had been around so long that he almost forgot what it was like to be free of it. She had become just as resigned as he was at this point that they were stuck together, and whatever fledgling emotions that had been between them had become mired in resentment and misunderstandings long before things reached this point.

Besides, Ranma had come to the hard realization that he preferred his freedom and the ability to wander around as he pleased, whereas Akane thrived best in a stable environment.

He at least had done the dignified thing and left a note explaining what he was doing and why.

He was sick and tired of the nonsense caused by his father and th people around him. Their expectations of him were entirely too cloying and he wanted to find out for himself who he was.

(He just left out the part he would likely be reincarnated in the process. Best not to give them too many leads to track him down and force him back.)

In another world, a green haired child began bawling as it came out of the womb. The boys eyes briefly turned a dark blue, before settling into a verdant green that matched his hair.

His mother proudly held him as she named her newborn son...Izuku.

On the plus side, Ranma figured out pretty damn quick that he wasn't in his old world anymore. Perhaps he'd have some fun before Ryoga somehow managed to track him down through his shitty sense of direction.

Then again, he wasn't going to spoil that surprise until he got his new body into a decent enough shape that he could survive Ryoga's payback for leaving like he had.

* * *

_Some time later..._

Ranma, now Izuku, watched the video of the number one hero All Might save the civilians with rapt attention and no little amount of awe.

Something inside him clicked into place as he heard his mother explain about what pro heroes were. He had already figured out there were no martial artists at the level he had come to expect from living in Nerima for so long...most people were obsessed with quirks these days.

Seeing All Might protect the innocent and beat up bad guys that might have given his old self a hard time, Izuku's eyes gleamed.

It wasn't that hard to shift his mindset from "martial artist" to "pro hero". From what he could tell, the job wasn't that dissimilar to what a true martial artist did regularly anyway.

Now he just had to awaken whatever power he got from the genetic lottery so he had a baseline to work with. There wasn't much point training until he knew what sort of weird ability he had.

So when the doctor brought down what most would have considered the Sword of Damocles by telling him he would never awaken a quirk, his mother was devastated.

"I'm so sorry Izuku!" she wailed, upset beyond belief her son was quirkless. She knew how much being a pro hero meant to him.

Izuku, rather than be distraught over the news, had a gleam in his eyes that many would have recognized in his old world.

So he was born without any fancy ability?

He could work with that. It just meant that when he became the next number one pro hero, that he could honestly claim he earned it through hard work and no little amount of stubborn determination.

He refused to let something as ridiculous as not having some fancy ability like Kaachan's keep him from becoming the Best.

Kaachan's reaction pissed him off. The second he found out Izuku didn't have a fancy ability, he decided that was all the reason he needed to "put the worthless Deku in his place".

Perhaps it was nostalgia, or just the sheer amount of dark amusement he got from dissuading the brat of that notion. Either way Bakugo clearly needed a proper rival to keep his ego in check before his mouth wrote a check his fancy power couldn't cash.

* * *

Doctor Ishikawa looked at the file he had been given by the teachers. After a rather awkward incident involving a cat...specifically his soon-to-be patient's reaction to one in his vicinity... the school had all but forced the mother to send her son to a therapist to hopefully _dissuade_ the child from becoming a pro hero before things got out of hand. Not that the teachers admitted that was what they were doing.

Letting a quirkless child become a hero was a disaster waiting to happen, and would almost certainly lead to an early grave if they didn't nip it in the bud. Never mind the boy's odd and slightly insane training regimen. The nurse and the gym teacher were both more than a little alarmed at the extremes the eight year old was putting himself through to insure he was accepted into UA in seven years.

Honestly, where did Midoriya get his training ideas from, pre-quirk manga?

The boy walked in, and he could already tell this was going to be a bit of a challenge. Something in the child's eyes practically screamed defiance and stubbornness.

Inko looked a tad nervous about the whole thing, but to be fair this was partially her fault for not correcting this before things got this out of hand.

_Izuku POV_

The doctor was a total quack and he knew from the very start he wasn't going to like him in the least. Izuku wasn't oblivious to the fact the teachers were less than happy about him choosing to be a hero, since he didn't have a fancy trick.

They were all about praising Bakugo to the point his ego would only grow out of hand once puberty started and encouraging him to go on the pro hero path, but the second the 'quirkless' kid wanted to do the same they threw up all sorts of roadblocks and excuses.

Hypocrites.

His ma hadn't believed him, but playing back a recording he made with a borrowed tape recorder had changed that rather quickly.

The only reason they were there was because the stupid teachers threatened to call social services if she didn't send him to a therapist over the 'cat incident'.

Stupid furry devils.

His ma looked even less impressed with the doctor they were made to see on the recommendation of the school. The only reason Izuku kept going there was because Inko had made it clear the best hero schools had a firm grade point average and that half-assing his education was not going to cut it.

It gave him headaches, but he was starting to figure out the best way to study without his brain crashing.

By the end of the session, his ma was rather irritated and Izuku was all too ready to perform a Saotome-special.

The teachers wanted him to see this therapist to 'convince' him not to become a hero? Fine by him. He'd made the guy dread their meetings until he snapped.

(The name "Midoriya" would soon be spoken as a hushed warning to psychiatrists in Japan, as the boy seemed to have an uncanny ability to piss off the ones attempting to treat him to the point they snapped and inevitably lost their license.)

* * *

_Third POV..._

Bakugo looked at his best friend/rival.

"Those shitty teachers still trying to send you to the doctors?" he asked.

Izuku looked a cross between smug and irritated.

"They have to look really far outside our prefecture because the ones here apparently heard about my ability to piss them off to the point they snap," said Izuku.

Bakugo snorted. He had come with Izuku once to "act as support", according to Inko. In reality he was having trouble believing Izuku kept pissing off the adults and wanted to see the master in action.

Izuku had that man frothing in the mouth before fifteen minutes had even passed, and by the end of the session the man had made it vehemently clear that he wasn't to 'darken his office' again.

The only reason Izuku didn't do the same to the teachers was because he was firmly a mama's boy and didn't want to upset her.

Therapists were fair game as far as Inko was concerned.

"What's their deal anyway?" asked Bakugo.

After a rather awkward month of trying to put Izuku in his place for not having a quirk, Bakugo had settled on a rather odd sort of respect for the verdant-haired boy because he didn't take shit from anyone and was able to kick Bakugo's ass without a quirk.

Izuku rolled his eyes.

"Apparently the idea of a quirkless hero who managed to get a license through actual hard work instead of a fancy trick is too hard for their adult minds to comprehend."

"Adults are stupid," scoffed Bakugo. "So did you send in the letter yet?"

There was a contest going in all the prefectures to meet All Might in person for about an hour, no interruptions. Needless to say all the kids in their class had already sent off their letter, save for Izuku and Bakugo.

Izuku made a face.

"Ma keeps making me rewrite it. She said it would be silly to send a letter if All Might can't even read it because the handwriting is so bad."

Bakugo howled with laughter. Out of the entire class, Izuku had the absolute worst handwriting. He had little doubt his mother was using the chance to get her son to actually improve so that it was legible from now on.

A month later, Izuku got a notice in the mail.

"Izuku-kun! You won the contest!" said Inko happily.

The subject of the contest was rather simple.

What did being a pro hero mean to them?

Izuku still couldn't believe he won the contest. He had a lot of respect for All Might, who had earned the title of Number one hero and maintained it for decades since his initial debut.

If there was one thing Ranma knew, it was how difficult it was to earn the title of the "best" and keep it. The sheer amount of rivals and crazies were a nightmare and were part of the reason he had left his old life behind.

Well, that and it seemed that the only people willing to challenge him anymore were those screwed over by Genma in regards to his hand in marriage. Seriously, how many people did he try to marry his son (and later his 'daughter') to just to fill his fat belly?

Meeting All Might was both exciting and interesting. The man had a larger than life personality, but at the same time he was nothing like that flaming asshat Endeavor.

Izuku had only met the second best hero once, from a distance. That had been enough to get a decent gauge on his personality and known he wanted nothing to do with the creep. Anyone who could care less about giving an innocent civilian second degree burns because they couldn't be bothered to reign in their quirk didn't deserve the title of the best.

There was also an odd warmth that seemed to radiate off All Might. It was soothing and reminded him rather strongly of Chi.

Izuku knew instinctively All Might was a good person down to his bones. It only made his respect for the man increase.

They made a bit of small talk before All Might broached the topic of heroes. Specifically Izuku's essay.

There was a fire in his eyes that seemed to mimic the one burning in All Might.

"Heroes are like martial artists from before quirks came out. They didn't need fancy tricks to protect the innocent and help people. They used their hard won ability and skills to defend the weak and give people hope. That's why I want to be a hero, since if I tried to just be a martial artist I'd likely just get arrested for vigilantism," said Izuku enthusiastically.

All Might definitely approved of his attitude.

"Well said! So many people become pro heroes for the fame or the glory...very few remember our job is to protect people from harm," said All Might.

If his hearing were any less sharp, he would have missed his mother thank All Might for actually _encouraging_ his dream rather than dismiss it like every other adult when they learned he was quirkless.

When the one on one time with All Might was about to end, the hero handed him something. It wasn't an autograph, but rather a pair of names along with general contact information.

"If you are truly serious about the pro hero path, I recommend training under one of these two. Gran Torino is the one who trained me, and Eraserhead's fighting style is similar enough to what I've heard of yours from your mother that he might be able to give you some useful advice or exercises," said All Might.

You couldn't sand blast the smile off Izuku's face. Finally, an adult who truly understood his drive!

Gran Torino lived a bit far away, but Eraserhead worked in his prefecture and the contact information was close enough that he could track the hero down and hopefully get some _real_ training done.

He had been hitting a dead end for months now, since most of the things he wanted to do were too risky or too damaging for his still developing body.

(Eraserhead was mildly annoyed with All Might for pointing the kid in his direction. However he still agreed to train the brat since he was genuinely serious and had the right motivation for pro hero work.)


	16. The Best There Ever Was Chapter Two

Aizawa looked at the tiny kid who had managed to track him down. Izuku Midoriya might be quirkless, but he was already a better hero than his most recent class. He had the right mindset and could care less about fame, glory or the cash that came with being a pro hero.

Sure the martial artist mindset was a tad weird, but every hero had their own personality quirks and his was well within the range of acceptable.

Even if he found the fact that every therapist in the prefecture apparently knew the boy by sight, if not name and refused to have anything to do with him. He didn't know how the kid managed to make so many trained professionals snap, and he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know.

He had the terrifying feeling that the kid and Nezu would get along entirely too well, especially when it came to tormenting others for their own amusement.

Still, the kid genuinely wanted to train and was willing to put in the work without any complaint at all. He even had a proper appreciation for Eraserhead's capture weapon, rather than dismiss it like many had in the past.

In fact, Izuku's growth was downright _frightening_ in a way once they hit their stride. He seemed to soak in things like a sponge and his ability to analyze and break down quirks was scary as hell. If he didn't know for a fact the boy only had a latent quirk that still needed some form of external stimulus to awaken, he'd swear the kid had special eyes like he did.

He was still going to chew out All Might for directing the kid his way.

* * *

He should have expected this, but honestly he was just happy to see that pig-bastard.

Ryoga looked hopelessly at his phone, and was a bit older than Izuku remembered. But he knew that chi-signature anywhere.

Izuku debated on how to handle this. Then he spotted a water bottle and a wicked grin filled his face.

Five seconds later, there was a very pissed off piglet squealing with absolute rage. Izuku easily pocketed Ryoga's things and picked the piglet up who was making his anger known in spades.

"Long time no see, Pig-boy," said Izuku easily.

Ryoga oinked in confusion.

"You followed me to Jusenkyo because my old man dragged me off from our fight, despite the fact I waited almost four days for you to show up," said Izuku.

If a piglet could have yelped the name "Ranma?!", Ryoga would have managed it. He came rather close with that oink of his.

Izuku grinned.

His ma wasn't in, as she was with her friends for a few hours. Izuku dumped some hot water on his friend and gave him back his clothes.

"Ranma, is that you?" said Ryoga with no little amount of hope.

"Better believe it, pig boy," said Izuku with the same cocky ease as before. He dodged the punch Ryoga threw without a second thought. "Easy piggy! This body ain't up to my old standards just yet!"

"You bastard! Do you have any idea how much the others have been after my ass to find you?!" snarled Ryoga irate.

Izuku winced. He should have guessed they'd ask Ryoga to track him down with his random sense of direction.

"How badly did they take it?"

Ryoga calmed down slightly, but not by much.

"Akane's married," he said simply.

Izuku might have felt a sting of unhappiness at one time, but he only felt relief she had moved on.

"Your mother was beyond upset, and the panda keeps trying to trash your honor claiming you failed as a martial artist. The Amazons are using your disappearance as an excuse to introduce their younger members to a less secluded group of martial artists under the assumption you'd return at some point."

Izuku nodded.

"I might have returned, if I hadn't realized that sticking around Nerima was pretty pointless. If it wasn't the crappy rivals, it was the endless fighting over who would have me as a husband or lover," said Izuku tiredly. "I came to the realization that I was stuck in a rut that everyone was determined to keep me in and damn what I had to say about it. Any love I had for Akane was mired in misunderstandings and a fake sense of duty that we _had_ to marry."

Ryoga could admit, things had gotten pretty out of hand back home. Everyone was unhappy, but several had finally moved on past Ranma when it became clear he wasn't going to suddenly show up and might actually be gone for good.

Which was why Ryoga changed the subject.

"What's this place like?"

"Ryoga, apparently your shitty sense of direction doesn't just apply to home. It applies to other worlds as well," said Izuku dryly.

"...That would explain far too much," said Ryoga. Like the giant robots, and the literal cat girls among other things. "Why do you look twelve though?"

"Reincarnated. Not complaining though. Even though I can't go on the same sort of training trip like last time, my new Ma is really supportive and kind. She's rather down to earth and has been encouraging my goals, though she has put her foot down on schoolwork," said Izuku. You'd like her."

"What about Nodoka?"

Izuku winced.

"She married Genma and thought nothing of the fact I was on an extended training trip with zero contact with her. I thought she was dead for years until she showed up," said Izuku.

Ryoga winced as well. He could hardly blame Ranma for wanting an actual childhood this time around, considering what a bastard Genma was.

"So what's this place like?" asked Ryoga, genuinely interested.

Izuku grinned.

"Wait till you hear about this place. They actually have a job that's called 'Pro Hero'," said Izuku enthusiastically.

Ryoga listened intently and could see why Ranma didn't want to come back. Not only did he get an actual childhood this time around, but it seemed this 'pro hero' work was right up his alley. Sure he didn't have any fancy ability, but with someone as skilled as the pigtailed bastard it wasn't going to slow him down _that_ much.

Ryoga almost felt sorry for the poor villains. Almost.

Eventually Ryoga left, but he memorized Izuku's chi signature...he'd track down his old friend again, now that he knew the man was alive.

Ranma was definitely much happier here, at least.

The news of his survival had been meet with some fanfare...right up until they found out Ranma had reincarnated and had only just hit puberty. Which meant any attempts to force him into the varied agreements he was under was now null and void.

Cologne wisely did not inform the Amazon tribe of this, as they were finally getting some fresh blood in their tribe after far too long. Young men were all too happy to sleep with young, pretty girls who had a shared interest...and if they were disinclined to continue the relationship, well they were often fine with visiting the girl children. Males were highly prized outside the Amazon village and quite a few martial artist families wanted male heirs. It was a win for everyone.

Though there was the occasional awkwardness that came from the families wanting to approve _arranged_ marriages...fortunately a brief explaination of Amazon culture was usually enough to smooth that over with the agreement that there was no issue with the girl child learning their branch of martial arts before the wedding. Most Amazon women were very quick learners after all.

* * *

_Izuku, age fourteen..._

To say Izuku was _pissed_ that the damn slime villain almost caught him was an understatement. He must have been slipping, to let that half-assed villain capture him.

On the plus side, he got to see All Might in person again.

However two seconds after seeing the man, Izuku's eyes went straight to the man's left side, around his abdomen.

"What happened to your stomach?" he demanded. "It feels like someone deliberately put some malevolent chi that's eating away at you."

All Might fumbled a bit.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I must go, citizen!"

Izuku wasn't having that, not a chance in hell. He respected the man too much to let something that potentially dangerous drop.

All Might panicked a bit, seeing a _teenager_ able to follow him with ridiculous ease, before he had to drop onto a nearby roof.

"Seriously, what happened to your stomach and abdomen? I know it wasn't there before because I've met you once as a kid," said Izuku, arms folded.

If he was surprised by the sudden smoke show, he didn't show it. He also didn't bat at an eye at the emaciated figure before him.

"You've certainly let yourself go..._ Secretary-san,"_ said Izuku dryly.

All Might, or rather Toshinori, blinked at him.

"How did you know I'm my own secretary?"

"Again, I've met both your forms before. You greeted us outside the room and said that All Might would be right in, and five seconds later you walked into the room in your hero form," said Izuku. "You can fool most people, but not someone who's trained to read chi. Both you and your secretary have _identical_ signatures. I just figured that the secretary bit was because it was your civilian form or something."

"What if I had a twin brother?" asked Toshinori, fascinated. He never met someone who could read chi-signatures before.

"Even twins have slightly different signatures. No matter what they do, they still have slight variations...even if they can be difficult to spot at first glance," said Izuku. "Now what happened? That malignant signature on you can't be healthy and it's eating away at your life span."

Toshinori sagged a bit.

"About five years ago I took a hit from a villain. I asked those in the know not to publicize it, as it was a fight I'm not proud of," said Toshinori. He pulled his shirt up to reveal a nasty wound that Izuku could sense had the bad chi in it. "I didn't know about the chi thing though."

"Whoever did that really didn't want you to recover from it," said Izuku with sympathy. "I've meet creeps who like to torment their victims long after their dead, and this guy must have been a real piece of work."

Toshinori sighed. The teen was a bundle of surprises, but he was strangely easy to vent to.

"What do I do?" asked Toshinori. This wound was slowly killing him, after all.

"Removing bad energy like that isn't my specialty...but I might know someone who would have an idea of how to deal with it. The problem would be getting her here."

He wouldn't trust Happosai in a thousand years, but as manipulative as Cologne was, she at least was somewhat reliable to work with.

The problem was getting her to come here through Ryoga. The pig was sporadic at the best of times, and he wasn't due for at least a week or two.

It was rather comforting that since Ryoga managed to memorize his chi-signature, that he could roughly schedule when the Hibiki would be in the general vicinity. Bakugo found him rather fascinating and was all too happy to spar with the guy...even if he laughed his ass off whenever he turned into a pig.

One of these days Ryoga was going to hit the explosive teen with a bottle filled with the cursed spring water, and Izuku was going to laugh and laugh at whatever the explosive blond got stuck with.

Toshinori left, but realized rather quickly that in his attempt to escape Izuku he had dropped the bottle containing the villain. Smoke rose in the distance, which was a pretty good indicator of where the bottle went.

On the plus side, Midoriya was still one of the best candidates he had for a successor. The fight five years ago might have accelerated that particular problem, but from what he could tell the green-haired teen had all the right qualities he was looking for.

Best of all, his physical condition was already strong enough to handle the bare minimum of One for All.

* * *

_Izuku POV_

Seeing Bakugo trapped by the slime villain and the heroes doing jack squat about it, Izuku sighed. On the plus side, he got a second chance to express his irritation with that damn villain for attacking him earlier. Izuku was rather good at holding a grudge.

"Oi, Bakugo! Apologies in advance!" shouted Izuku as he dodged past the ridiculously lax security around the villain.

One could read Bakugo's "Oh shit!" expression rather clearly as he braced himself for something.

Izuku rather gleefully used the Roasting Chestnuts technique to blow away the slime, allowing the blond to get out. There was an undercurrent of blood in the water, but before Izuku could get a little payback All Might stepped in and blew the slime away...and oddly enough, changed the weather in the process.

Apparently he didn't want the teen to get a vigilantism charge on his record, since if he beat the villain he'd have to report to the police.

Was it his fault the heroes here sucked?

A short time later, once the villain was properly...collected, Izuku and Bakugo headed for home.

"Thanks...for saving my ass I mean. Those idiots were flailing their arms and running around like chickens with no head because their fucking quirks were almost useless," said Bakugo.

Izuku clasped his hands on Bakugo's shoulders and looked at him seriously.

"Dude...there is no way in hell I would EVER let you be taken out by a damn tentacle monster villain. No bro worth his salt would ever allow it."

Bakugo thought that over, before paling.

"Dammit Deku, why the fuck did you have to put that thought into my head? Now I'm going to have nightmares about that for weeks!" said Bakugo irate.

Izuku cackled.

Bakugo glared at him before heading to his house.

Izuku was about to head to his...when All Might showed up, before having to quickly switch back to his civilian form.

Izuku raised an eyebrow, but when he heard the offer being made he had only one reaction.

A wicked grin and a "Hell yeah, I'm in!"


	17. The Long Game Chapter One

**In which Tet and boredom do not mix well, and a bet is placed between him and the siblings. Would be willing to open this one up for adoption as I would like to see this one expand past the first chapter!**

* * *

If there was one downside to being the one of the three True Gods as they were now known, it was that immortality could be downright _boring_ no matter how many games you played. It didn't matter if the rules varied or special restrictions were added...eventually things got to be more of the same with the only real deviation being who would win and how.

As such, it was Sora who came up with an idea that would have some rather interesting consequences and would end up spicing things up enough that they were no longer quite as bored.

"Hey Tet...how about a long-term bet?"

Tet looked at Sora, the older half of "Blank".

"What sort of bet?"

Sora smirked...it was a sign that he had come up with something good, which made Tet perk up.

The game, as it turned out, was rather brilliant in it's simplicity.

All Tet had to do was live through one lifetime as a "human" or it's equivalent in a world that was similar to the one Shiro and Sora had been born into. How he lived was up to him, but he wasn't allowed to violate the ten pledges that made up the core of Disboard.

Considering the world Sora picked, having stumbled across it quite by accident while "channel flipping" as he called it, Tet had a few conditions of his own. He was already intrigued by the idea since it meant doing something completely outside his own experience.

Specifically that in the event he was in a situation where he might accidentally violate the ten pledges (or more specifically the first one) then his powers as God could be invoked and he could temporarily draw himself and whatever threat was against his life into a pseudo copy of Disboard, thus unlocking his full power as a True God and giving him unlimited access to his abilities until the threat was dealt with in accordance to the pledges. The laws of upholding bets would remain in effect even when he returned to being human.

In other words, he could rewrite reality so long as it fell within the power of the Ten Pledges and there was nothing the local inhabitants could do about it.

Needless to say Tet was more than happy to agree to the idea, if only to kill his boredom for a while. Being human...or as much as a god could get...sounded interesting.

It didn't take much for them to set things up...after all, anything that would require Tet's presence could easily be covered by the siblings.

Nine months later...barely a blink of an eye for a god... a child was born in another world with the soul of a god.

His name...was Midoriya Izuku.

Time for the long game to begin.

* * *

_Some time later..._

Izuku wasn't discouraged by the fact he was born without a quirk. He had arranged things that way after all.

In a world full of strange and wonderful abilities, being born without made you an anomaly.

Honestly though, Tet felt he was already overpowered when the conditions were met as it was. If he had a quirk, there was a chance his power could slip and he could potentially violate the Ten Pledges by accident. And that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Besides, games were more fun with a handicap. It gave them an extra level of challenge in order to win.

He was still somewhat baffled as to how he ended up friends with a literal explosive hothead like Bakugo though. Even if Bakugo didn't believe him for an instant when he claimed to be a god.

However Izuku hadn't taken into account how downright _boring_ this game was going to be at first. It seemed like the only interesting job in this world was being a Pro Hero.

That being said he wasn't too enthusiastic about fighting villains. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he did become a hero, then he would be invoking his powers as Tet a little too often and might accidentally void the bet that started this game.

After all, you needed a decent quirk to be a hero from what he saw of the laws. Putting himself into life and death situations that would fit the requirements sounded like a really stupid idea.

So he waited, watched and learned as much as he could. As Sora and Shiro had demonstrated...repeatedly...knowledge was a power all it's own and could make or break your ability to win the game.

Since the society he lived in idolized All Might, he learned everything he could about the man and many other heroes and would seek out villain attacks for more information.

It would be this habit that would lead him into a far less boring life.

Even if certain heroes (namely a sleep-deprived cat-loving hero) would wish it otherwise.

* * *

Izuku was rather bored. Sure, becoming Toshinori's chosen successor had spiced things up by allowing him to join UA properly, but that had been the extent of any "events" to happen so far.

It was no wonder Sora and Shiro had been so bored living in this sort of world. The number of events in real life were so low that there was nothing to really look forward to!

Almost in answer to his boredom, the world answered with the beginning of a long-term event that was sure to spice things up.

And it started with the invasion of the USJ.

Izuku took one look at the outpouring of villains, and then the expressions of the teachers.

The second the lead villain...who has a severed hand on his face for whatever reason...says something about using them as bait for All Might, Izuku has to fight to keep the smile off his face.

Finally! He could get a break from this human shell for a bit and let loose!

He could feel the Suniaster react as the the requirements to unlock his full power were met. If he didn't act fast, there was a high chance he could violate the Ten Pledges he had set forth that were the core of his status as one of the Three True Gods.

Izuku...no, this was Tet now...holds the Suniaster up in his hands as he calls out the invoking prayer of the Ten Pledges.

"Aschente!"

Before anyone can understand what's going on, the world around them shifts in a way that makes it clear that something more abnormal than villains storming the simulation joint was happening.

"What the hell is this? Who's using a cheat code?!" demanded Shiguraki.

"_Now I take offense to that. I think this qualifies more as 'evening the odds',"_ said Tet rather cheerfully.

Everyone looked up at the teen in midair, sitting on what could only be described as a throne with a strange jewel in his right hand. He had mismatched eyes and there was a sense of childish nature in his demeanor. He had a heart shaped birth mark under his right eye.

"Who are you?" demanded Shiguraki.

_"My name is Tet. You can call me God, considering I am one,"_ he replied calmly.

"I've never heard of a god named Tet," said Eraserhead.

Tet shrugged at that.

"_Most of the people in this world worship heroes. I'm the God of Games,"_ he replied.

"What do you want?" asked Eraserhead. Because he couldn't see any possible reason why the self-proclaimed God of Games would be here now of all times.

It would only be later he realized that Izuku was missing during the entire thing, ever since "Tet" appeared.

Tet smirked.

"_Why isn't it obvious? I intend to play a game of course!"_

Eraserhead had a bad feeling.

"Pass. I don't play games with my student's lives," he said immediately.

Tet didn't stop smiling, though there was definitely a sense of seriousness in his aura.

"_You don't get a choice. Either both sides play or no one leaves," _Tet said flatly.

Considering they were dealing with an entity of unknown power and ability, they didn't have much choice.

"What are the rules?" asked Eraserhead. The villains were mostly letting the heroes talk, since even they could sense they were outclassed by an apparent 'child'.

Tet beamed at him.

"_Why it's quite simple really!"_ said Tet rather cheerfully, as he outlined the laws.

_**All murder, war, and robbery is forbidden in this world.**_

_**All conflict in this world will be resolved through games.**_

_**In games, each player will bet something that they agree is of equal value.**_

_**As long as it doesn't violate pledge three, anything may be bet, and any game may be played.**_

_**The challenged party has the right to decide the rules of the game.**_

_**Any bets made in accordance with the pledges must be upheld.**_

_**Conflicts between groups will be conducted by designated representatives with absolute authority.**_

_**Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an instant loss.**_

_**In the name of god, the previous rules may never be changed.**_

_**Let's all have fun and play together!**_

Eraserhead relaxed a bit. Clearly this god had no intention of playing any _deadly_ games if the first rule he set down was no murder or war.

It was one of his students that noticed one thing no one else had picked up on yet, focusing more on the fact that they weren't at risk of drying automatically.

"Wait...does this mean we can bet our _quirks_ and actually lose them permanently?!" said Yaoyorozu.

Tet smiled at her for catching on to that so fast.

"_I did say_ anything_ can be bet, so long as both parties agree the wager is acceptable."_

Now thoroughly alarmed, both sides were rather terrified of what sort of games this strange god would concoct.

"_Now...shall we begin?"_ said Tet with far too much cheer.

* * *

_Outside the USJ..._

All Might had rushed to the training facility after young Tenya managed to escape long enough to reach UA to warn them of the attack.

What he expected and what he found were completely different. The second he entered the USJ, it was like he was teleported to an entirely different world where the rules he was so familiar with were thrown out the window and he was at the whim of a fickle god.

"_What do we have here? Someone else wishes to join the game?"_ said the floating figure, looking thoroughly entertained by the entire spectacle.

"Game?" repeated All Might.

Eraserhead looked torn between relief...at the appearance of All Might, and worried for reasons the other hero couldn't readily explain.

The black-haired underground hero looked at the floating figure with some concern.

"What would it take for All Might to join the hero's side of the game?"

The figure seemed to look speculative.

"_Both sides must agree it's acceptable for him to be part of the games, and a toll must be paid since he's basically crashing mid-way through the contest," _said the figure. _"Otherwise I'm throwing him outside the area and blocking his ability to come back in."_

The villain looked entirely too gleeful at the idea of bringing All Might into the 'game'.

"We agree!"

"We agree as well," said Eraserhead quickly, before the villain changed his mind.

All Might was _very_ confused at this point, but decided to play along.

"Very well, what toll am I supposed to pay?" he asked.

The figure looked contemplative.

"_Hmm... How about...ten years."_

"Ten years?" said All Might. He didn't think he had ten years left.

"_That's the price to enter, since you're entering so late. Either take it or leave it," _said the figure.

"Very well," said All Might.

The figure snapped it's fingers, and he felt something shift in his body. He couldn't tell what was going on exactly, but he knew something big had occurred.

He hurried to Eraserhead to get an explanation.

"What exactly is going on?"

"The figure up there is called Tet. He calls himself the God of Games...though I'm inclined to believe him since my quirk hasn't worked on him at _all_. So far he's had us play rather childish games scaled up to hero level difficulty with our quirks being the agreed upon wager. Outside of screwing with us and occasionally busting the villains for being caught attempting to cheat, he hasn't caused any real problems. If anything he's kept the students safe from the worst of the damage that could have been done to them from the villains showing up like this," said Eraserhead grudgingly.

Considering that if the 'god' hadn't shown up there was a very real chance his students could have been killed, he was reluctantly grateful for his interference.

Did not mean his headache was any less trying to figure out the boy's angle.

All Might's appearance lead to the 'final' game. The Noumu was already out due to Shirugaki's first attempt to cheat by adding him to a game he was about to lose...the loss of whatever quirk it had caused the thing to self-destruct as the thing was little more than a vegetable.

The villain had thrown a massive tantrum over that, and had been rather pissed when Tet cheerfully pointed out that _obvious_ cheating was against the rules and that he had been warned.

In the end the heroes won as the villains, baring two or three like Shirugaki and his shadowy companion, lost their quirks.

Tet disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared, and it would take some time before anyone realized Izuku had been 'missing' the entire time the god was present.

It wouldn't be until All Might reverted to Toshinori that he got the shock of his life.

The wound that had forced him to retire and look for a successor was gone and he had lost years off his current age. He felt like a new man and wondered why the strange god had given him a new lease on life.


	18. A Hunter's Heroics Chapter One

It was such an ordinary day when Inko gained a rather unfortunate glimpse into her daughter's school life. Ichigo had hidden it rather well, but after seeing her friend's son blatantly use his explosive quirk and speak in a rather cold manner to her daughter...with no one stopping it or saying a word against such appalling behavior...she became rather alarmed.

It took her a month to get to the bottom of the incident, as Ichigo was rather tight lipped about the manner. But what she discovered was that this was not an isolated incident. Far from it. Bakugo was already showing signs of open disregard when it came to using his quirk against others he deemed 'lesser' because everyone was so quick to praise how strong his ability was.

Meanwhile they were openly dismissive of her daughter because Ichigo was unlucky enough to be born without a quirk.

The entire thing made Inko incredibly angry. However what could she do about it? The problem wasn't just her daughter's school and peers, it was society itself.

It was then that fate intervened and she knocked over an old picture of her younger sister, who unfortunately died in childbirth.

She only knew this because she had been there to help her sister through her first child, and had met her sister's lover Ging.

She didn't know what happened to Gon, but Ging mentioned taking him to see his sister Mito in a place called "Whale Island".

Considering Ging was a professional Hunter, perhaps he left their son with his sister for young Gon's safety.

Seeing her daughter come home, trying to hide the pain she was in, Inko made up her mind.

She was going to find out how to reach Whale Island, and with any luck give them both a fresh start far away from the abusive situation her daughter was in.

_A year later..._

Mito looked at the green-haired woman and her daughter, both of whom had a rather strong resemblance to her nephew Gon.

"So... you're Gon's other aunt," said Mito awkwardly. She hoped this woman wasn't intending to take her nephew away.

Inko gave her a comforting smile.

"I'm not here to take him from you, if that's what you're worried about," she said quickly. "I just wanted my daughter to meet her cousin, since Ging wasn't exactly forthcoming about where you were beyond a name and a general location."

"Gon, why don't you show..." started Mito, before realizing she had no idea what the young girl's name was.

"Ichigo."

"Go show Ichigo around. But stay away from the deeper parts of the forest," said Mito.

"Okay Aunt Mito," said Gon, openly curious and highly interested in the other woman. He never knew his mother, and he had only the bare minimum of information on Ging, his father. Mito didn't like talking about him much.

Inko and Mito sat down with tea.

"To be honest, the main reason I tracked you down was because of what was going on with my daughter's school. It seems that most of her classmates, or at least one in particular, believe that the fact she's quirkless is all the excuse they need to use her as a testing dummy for their quirks. Worse, the teachers are doing nothing to stop this behavior because the main culprit has the ability to produce explosions with his sweat."

"And you want to get her away from that situation before too much damage is done."

"Ichigo wants to be a hero, but the simple fact is that without a quirk there's no way anyone would approve of it. Apparently even her teachers have been openly disparaging her dream in front of her and her peers, and when I questioned them about it were quite snide about the fact I was still encouraging her 'pointless dream'."

As a mother, or close to it, Mito was openly appalled by such casual disregard. She certainly felt a bit more empathetic towards why Inko had dragged her daughter so far from home to find her nephew.

"What exactly are your plans then?"

"Depending on how things go, I'm hoping to move away from Mustafu so that Ichigo can at least get to know her cousin better. After all, he's the last remaining piece of my younger sister I have left. To be honest, I'm glad Ging left him with you... the idea of trying to track down someone like him is a bit too daunting for me," said Inko.

"I had to fight for Gon, to be honest. I didn't think it was a wise move for Ging to raise him, considering his occupation. He was a good man, but the type of places he preferred are far too dangerous for a small child," admitted Mito.

Mito found herself becoming easy friends with the quiet, but supportive Inko. She could easily see the mother and daughter living on the island and Gon getting to know his cousin.

* * *

_A few months later..._

Ichigo bit her lip and kept her silence. Her mother had made it clear after they went to find her cousin that she fully intended to have them move to the island. Gon was much nicer than any of the other kids in her class...especially Kacchan.

To be honest, she liked Whale Island better than Mustafu. They didn't put as much emphasis on quirks, and while it took a bit longer to get information on heroes like All Might, the number of villain attacks was almost nonexistent.

Her mother was more than happy to compromise regarding Ichigo's love of heroes. So long as she kept her grades up, Inko would pay for the better internet packages so that she could keep up with her favorite hero.

It seemed Kacchan...no, Bakugo...didn't like the fact his usual bullying target wasn't rising to the bait anymore. Ichigo had been bolstered by the knowledge she wouldn't have to put up with his bullying anymore and had developed a slight spine.

So when Inko came to pick up her daughter and found her arm bandaged from where Bakugo grabbed her, she became furious that the only response given was that the teachers were sorry that the spoiled brat had left _visible_ evidence this time and that they were hopeful Inko wouldn't press charges on the school or the boy in question.

Unfortunately for the school, Inko went directly to Bakugo's mother and explained the situation _in detail_.

"What do you mean? I thought Ichigo-chan had a minor mishap on the playground," said Mitsuki.

"I'm afraid it's worse than that. The school is showing a blind eye towards the fact that your son is developing a disturbing disregard towards using his quirk on others, especially when it comes to showing dominance over them," said Inko firmly. "I was rather concerned about why Ichigo kept coming home with bruises and scrapes, so I slipped a camera into her bag."

Mitsuki watched the footage Inko had taken with a discreet body camera she had slipped onto her daughter's bookbag. And ten minutes in, she grew pissed.

At her son, and the idiot teachers that were making things worse.

She promptly dragged Katsuki out of his room and demanded an explanation, furious.

"It's not like anyone cares about what stupid Deku thinks! She's just a quirkless loser with no future!" snarled Katsuki, trying to get away from where his mother had her grip on his ear.

"And where exactly did you hear such things?" demanded Mitsuki, pissed.

"The adults say it all the time," said Katsuki, not seeing the problem. Everyone from the principal to some of the other parents all agreed that Ichigo wasn't going to make hero, and that he had the best chance at going Pro thanks to his quirk.

It wasn't like there was anything wrong with him putting the stupid girl in her place.

Mitsuki looked at her old friend, who had a neutrally sympathetic expression on her face.

"I am so sorry about this. I had no idea they were inflating his ego like that because of his quirk," said Mitsuki sincerely. She twisted his ear when he attempted to protest.

"I mostly brought it up because of the fact my Ichigo needed medical attention from a nasty burn left behind from his explosions. If he's willing to do that to her, then there's no telling how much damage he could do once he's older," said Inko.

She had only brought this to Mitsuki because of their friendship. Katsuki was still young enough that the behavior had a chance of being corrected, and the only reason she wasn't suing the school for indirectly instigating the cause of Katsuki's behavior with his quirk was because they were moving next month.

She was just finishing up the small details before they moved to the small home on Whale Island near Mito's own home. It still needed a bit of fixing up, but Mito had offered to let them stay until the bulk of the housework was done.

* * *

Ichigo looked considerably more cheerful the farther away they got from Japan. She enjoyed being around Gon, who was more than happy to drag his quirkless cousin around in the forest and show her all sorts of neat animals.

Oddly enough, the animals were easy going and rather accepting of her presence despite the fact that some of them were predators. Even Gon was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the animals accepted her as easily as they did him.

The first time Ichigo heard about hunters was from Gon, who spoke in detail about the man he had met who told him about Ging.

At first she dismissed it, as her dream was to become a pro hero like All Might.

Until she learned one critical detail. All the top schools that lead to guaranteed pro hero licenses had a very specific requirement.

You had to have a decent quirk. There was one man who became a pro hero for seven years, but had his license revoked the moment the QRA learned he was a quirkless man who used machines to do his pro hero work. Officially the reason they revoked his license was because he lied on the application, but in reality everyone knew it was because he dared to become a hero without a quirk at all.

After he lost his license, all the pro heroes who came after him had some sort of flashy or marketable quirk.

Which inevitably lead to the society that treated those without as second class citizens, even if it wasn't intentional.

Ichigo might have fallen into depression, if she hadn't looked into what Hunters actually_ did_ and found something that would change the course of her life forever.

Hunters had been around long before quirks became the standard norm, never mind pro heroes.

In order to keep the peace, an agreement was made between the fledgling pro hero class and the longstanding hunters.

The agreement was that one could bypass the pro hero license _entirely_ if they had a hunter's license, and that hunters could interfere against villains without reprisal from the pro heroes and the cops. And hunters didn't have a quirk requirement at all, since the job had been around long before the heroes or the QRA.

In fact there was a hunter class that specifically kept the pro heroes in check on top of hunting villains and making arrests.

The Hero Hunters. They had the authority and ability to investigate heroes like All Might without reprisal and if necessary _revoke_ the pro heroes license if they felt the pro hero in question was becoming a liability to public safety or needed retraining before they were allowed to regain their license.

Of course if that happened, then it left a permanent mark on that pro heroes record, so most heroes were overly respectful when they were confronted by hunters. After all, it was hard not to take someone who could do that much damage to your reputation as a hero like a hunter could. Especially considering how many relied on endorsements and good publicity to make their living since they were in it for the fame and glory.

It was then that Ichigo decided to become a Hero Hunter. Not for the fame, the money or even the recognition she'd get from the media. She wanted to become one because it was her best chance to fulfill her dream and help or inspire others like All Might did, even if she didn't have a quirk.

Inko said nothing about her daughter's new goal. However she still supported her and Gon, as it had given her daughter a drive that she had been missing in her life. Ichigo was so much happier training and playing with Gon than she ever had been in Japan.

Mito was less than pleased, mostly because she didn't like the idea of Gon leaving so soon. However being a hunter was in his blood and it was hard to say no to her surrogate niece Ichigo.

After all this was her best chance to become a real hero, quirk or no quirk.

Besides, having Ichigo around was causing Gon to develop a certain level of maturity towards others that he had been lacking. She hadn't noticed it before, but he had a certain disregard towards his own health and safety with the odd assumption things would turn out alright in the end.

Having to protect Ichigo and bring things down to her level until she was able to catch up to him forced him to realize his behavior could prove dangerous if he ever lost his quirk. Best of all, Ichigo was able to break things down so that Gon's written homework had improved considerably.

It was because Gon would have to protect Ichigo during the exam that Mito reluctantly agreed to let him take the exam...if he could catch the master of the swamp before the exam date on after his twelfth birthday.

After all, if Ging could manage it then there was a chance Gon could as well. And if not, then he certainly wasn't ready for the exam.


	19. A Hunter's Heroics Chapter Two

**Decided to give Ichigo a different quirk than normal...one that is overpowered when used correctly. Hope everyone likes the artifact I gave her and the introduction of a certain character!**

* * *

Ichigo loved living on Whale Island. It was a far cry from the cold and impersonal life she had in Japan. Here, no one cared if she was quirkless and was actually _nice_ to her. Even Auntie Mito, who treated her like a second child whenever Inko had to leave her alone.

Gon loved having a sister he could play with, and often dragged her to little adventures in the forest. Ichigo could tell she was getting a lot stronger, as she wasn't tired by the end of it anymore.

However she wanted a little adventure of her own. To that end, she snuck out while Gon was out getting supplies for Mito to explore an area of the forest that was deemed relatively safe by the adults. Most of the predators avoided it, likely because of the odd flowers that grew around the perimeter that they disliked.

Ichigo was heading deep into the heart of that area, as she was rather fascinated by the flowers and wanted to see what else was inside. Gon disliked it because they made him sneeze every time they went near the place.

Going deeper into the odd glen where the flowers thrived, Ichigo found a strange stone formation. With the curiosity and innocence of a child who had never experienced true danger, she went in without a second thought.

_Several hours later..._

Inko was understandably upset when her daughter was very late for dinner and no one had seen her for hours. So when Ichigo returned a bit hungry but no worse for wear, the matter was eventually dismissed.

That is until they realized she had awoken someone rather unusual to the island.

Fairy King Harlequin, as he was once known when he was still a hunter and part of a group of heroes known as the Seven Deadly Sins...no one was sure why a group of heroes named themselves that, but ran with it...had been sleeping for the past hundred years on Whale Island after the death of his wife Diane. His sister Elaine and her husband Ban were still around somewhere, but the "sin of Sloth" had opted to nap for a while.

King, as he preferred to be called, had been very surprised to be woken up by a ten year old girl. Still, no harm had come of it and he had a decent nap.

To that end, he decided to see what the world was like after his nap.

Only to find two very eager children who wanted to learn from him, for slightly different reasons.

At least his youthful appearance kept the adults from asking pointed questions about his interest in Ichigo and Gon. Being accused of having ill intentions towards children was just plain annoying.

* * *

Ichigo was rather eager for Gon to complete his end of the deal with Mito. Auntie Mito had said that if Gon could catch the Master of the Swamp, she would allow him to join the Hunter's exam.

Inko had agreed the same, but in her daughter's case she was only allowed to join if Gon went as well. King was an unusual boy, but he was very good at training the children and he had already given Ichigo a very impressive gift.

The sacred spear Chastifol, which had been King's primary weapon for years.

What Inko didn't know, that King and the children kept quiet about, was that being chosen as the spear's owner made Ichigo the Fairy race's new _Queen. _Or at least she would be once she passed the hunter's exam and unlocked her full potential.

According to King, Ichigo _did_ have a quirk...it was just extremely passive and they had yet to figure out how to use it in a combat situation. The fact it wasn't fully awake yet meant that it had gone unnoticed for years.

Seeing Gon race to the port with the massive fish, Ichigo grinned widely.

"You did it! Now we can take the exam!"

Gon beamed widely at her, though he had to look up a bit. Ever since she bonded with Chastifol, she had developed a tendency to hover all the time. It drove Inko a little crazy on occasion.

King had long since left, having taught all he could to Ichigo and wanting to reunite with his sister.

He had promised to leave a message where to find him once she took the exam, left with the hunter's chairman. It would only be given once she became a hunter.

King couldn't complete her training until _after_ she had the license.

On the day they were to leave Whale Island, Inko made sure both children were well stocked. Gon was in charge of the camping supplies, while Ichigo had the seasoning and the medical supplies. Considering Gon's quirk, he was extraordinarily good at picking out edible plants and hunting game. However he was terrible at cooking, which was why Ichigo was the one carrying the seasoning.

Ichigo gave her mother an extra hug, while Gon did the same to his aunt Mito.

It was a tearful farewell for all involved.

"So what do you think the hunter's exam is like? I mean King said they change it every year, since it's impossible to know who's going to be the examiner..." said Gon eagerly.

"He said there was at least four stages, no more than five," said Ichigo.

"Look at you brats, trying to act all knowing about the exam!" scoffed another potential.

"Go back to your mama's kiddies!" laughed another.

"Yeah, we don't have time to watch over wet behind the ears babies who bring their security blankets!"

Gon frowned, but said nothing. Those that laughed the loudest were often the first cut, according to King. And there was often no telling who would be culling the weakest from the list of potentials.

Thousands flocked to the exam every year, but in reality the main exam was lucky to get several hundred. And the number who passed was even fewer.

Some years, not even a single candidate would pass.

Ichigo ignored them...she liked the fluffy nature of Castifol in it's pillow form, and the less people recognized it before she became a hunter, the better.

If anyone knew what it actually was, there was a high risk someone would come after her and even kill her in order to get a quick payday. Chastifol was very strong even when it wasn't bonded to an owner, but it's full potential only awakened in the hands it deemed worthy of it.

There were even people who collected legendary weapons who could afford to hire strong Hunters to take it by any means necessary.

Besides...it was easier to float when it was in pillow form and at most people would assume it was her quirk.

As the sea began to churn from the yearly storms, Ichigo helped to ration the sea sickness medicine she had on hand.

Considering she was floating the entire time, she wasn't affected and Gon had a strong stomach anyway.

Many of the jerks who mocked them for being young or because they dismissed Chastifol were laid up on the ground, sick as dogs and miserable. They were unable to handle the seas at all.

"Wimps," said Ichigo.

"That's not fair. You're floating after all," said Gon.

"Considering the number of people tossed around like dolls, it would be even more foolish to be on the ground. I don't fancy being crushed by grown men who's egos are bigger than their skill level," Ichigo shot back.

Gon conceded her point. The adults _were_ being tossed around a lot, and Ichigo was smaller than them. It wouldn't take much for her to be pinned by one of the adults being thrown around and hurt.

As the storm began to subside for the moment, the captain came in. He found Ichigo lazing about on Chastifol, reading while Gon helped a few of those who were sicker than most.

* * *

_At the Hunter's exam area..._

Ichigo was rather glad she had Gon with her. She didn't think she could have passed the preliminary exams without his help. He had a natural charisma that seemed to endear him towards the people cutting down the number of applicants.

That wasn't to say she was lacking charm of her own...she was able to convince King to train them and tell them things about the actual exam after all. It was just that most dismissed her because she didn't seem to be taking things seriously.

Not even Kurapika or Leorio took her seriously because she had been floating most of the time and to all appearances let Gon do the bulk of the work.

Perhaps now that they were in the main exam she could finally show off her own skills.

Ichigo put her numbered badge into her satchel, after confirming that it didn't need to be visible at all times. She had the worst feeling she'd lose it if she wore it.

She had to grin when she realized the first part of the exam was to follow the proctor without falling behind.

The only other kid their age, a silverette with a mischievous and slightly worrying aura, grinned as he rode his skateboard rather than bother running.

"So is floating part of your quirk?" he asked.

"I'll let you keep guessing," said Ichigo. "I'm Midoriya Ichigo, and that's my cousin Freaks Gon."

"Who names their kid Freaks?" he asked. "I'm Killua."

"It's a habit of hers from before she moved to Whale Island. My name is Gon," said Gon amused. "Apparently on her birth island it's considered polite to introduce yourself with your surname first and your given name second."

"What island does that?" asked Killua, interested. He was amused that Ichigo was floating with her body facing backwards and she didn't seem to be taking things seriously at all.

"Japan," said Ichigo.

"Huh. So what's the deal with the pillow?" asked Killua.

"She got it from a former Hunter. Apparently it has a few unique skills only someone bonded to it can use, and it like Ichigo," said Gon. "Wait until she has a chance to actually show off her skills...so far she hasn't had a proper chance to actually do anything."

"Wait...you mean she's been holding back?" said Kurapika, having heard that comment.

"I want to be a hero, but because my quirk is very passive, the only way I'll be able to join the ranks of heroes is to become a hunter. No hero school would let someone with a relatively passive quirk join their ranks, much less one like UA," said Ichigo slightly annoyed.

"What's a hero hunter?" asked Killua.

"Since Hunters were prevalent before the emergence of Quirks, the budding Pro Hero class made a deal with the hunters association in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Namely that those who obtain a hunter's license don't need a hero license in order to interfere during events such as villain attacks or natural disasters. In exchange the hunter's association was to insure that the Pro Hero class never ran the risk of going to far...such as a hero suddenly turning villain or believing themselves to be a god due to their quirk and fame," said Kurapika. "It's not widely talked about or known, because in general hunters either avoid getting involved or are mistaken for pro heroes and don't bother to correct the assumption."

"Pro Heroes are considered above several laws, but the hunter class remains the elite of the elite," said Ichigo. "According to the hunter who trained me, hunters _outrank_ pro heroes by a wide margin due to the requirements of being one. Having a hunter's license means I don't need to join schools like UA to be a hero, even if I had no quirk at all," said Ichigo cheerfully. "To date, there's only a handful of _known_ hero hunters out there, and only one is still active. I hear he's been keeping the heroes on their toes, since most have become complacent due to the rise of All Might."

"All Might?" said Killua.

Gon suddenly groaned.

"Please do not get Ichigo started. She's a complete All Might fan girl who knows entirely too much and has this weird habit of mumbling statistics and other facts that are relatively pointless. Just hearing her go into ramble mode makes my brain hurt," said Gon quickly.

Ichigo stuck her tongue out at him.

"You hate it because I make you actually _think_, rather than rely on instincts all the time. Didn't Auntie Mito throw a party when your grades went up and consistently _stayed_ there?" said Ichigo.

"A C average is perfectly acceptable! I didn't need to do better than that!"

"Your father maintained a straight B average growing up. There is no excuse for you to slack off, and even Mama said that your mom was always in the top ten of the class at your age," Ichigo shot back. "Not everyone is a wild child and at least thanks to me you have something to fall back on."

Killua was highly entertained by the byplay. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a normal family spat. The two were clearly close.

"Hey, I see daylight again!" Ichigo called out.

Sure enough, they were at the end of the tunnel.


	20. This Light of Mine Chapter One

When she was first reborn into this strange new world, she had taken it in stride. She had been through too much in her past life to really do more than say "meh" at being reincarnated...thankfully into the same gender.

That was before she got a better idea of her new birth father's character and the rather broken homelife she would be dealing with.

Above all, she had a particular hatred towards domestic abuse.

Todoroki Sakura was a rather unusual girl. She could have handled any number of abuse heaped on her by her bastard of a father, who was unlikely to be found out due to his status as the second most popular/powerful pro hero, but she drew the line when he targeted her mother in front of her.

Sakura hadn't thought twice about jumping in front of her mother, of taking the hit in her place. She had been pissed enough that the act would have been entirely unconcious.

She hadn't expected Endeavor to not even remotely try to moderate his blow...he had to have realized he was about to hit his youngest rather than his unfortunate wife before it would hit.

The punch sent her flying into the stove, where she got a solid knock to the head from the metal. As if fate was mocking her, the kettle that her mother had been heating up for tea began to fall, the spout pointed downwards and the scalding hot water pouring out and directly onto the unprotected left side of her face.

She screamed, as her current body hadn't built up quite the same pain tolerance of her last life. Then again she had never been _burned_ so badly in her last life either.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her room, and learning that while she would have a scar over her left eye she would still be able to see. Her mother had been charged and sent to a 'special' hospital, with the claim that she had suffered a psychotic break and had caused the devastating injury to her daughter because 'she was too much like her father'.

Sakura was _pissed_. Endeavor had spun the entire story into an utter lie, and was even divorcing her poor mother over it citing that she was a danger to her children...Sakura in particular.

Touya, furious over the incident, left the first chance he could and never came back. Fuyumi tried her best to keep the house together, but it had been broken long before the incident and was now little more than a massive powder keg about to blow up.

Once she was back up to what she considered acceptable standards, which took about two years...Sakura knew her time had come. As much as she loved Fuyumi, who honestly _did_ try her best, she could not stand Endeavor's tyranny and complete bullshit any longer.

And honestly, his so-called training would have her stagnate by the next year in terms of where she wanted to go anyway.

She disappeared into the darkness, while Endeavor was off on some big hero conference and Fuyumi would be crashed out in her room from a hard day cramming for her teaching license.

It would be almost two days before anyone noticed she was missing, and by that point she was long gone from the prefecture and had a disguise that would be incredibly difficult to notice.

Cosplay was such a useful excuse for odd and unusual outfits.

* * *

_Three years later..._

"Happy Sun Couriers! Open up if you don't want your door destroyed!" said the overly chipper and far too irritating voice.

Dabi practically stormed to the front door, pissed at having been woken up at seven in the morning when he only got to sleep three hours ago.

"What?!"

The courier was a brat. Barely twelve or thirteen at most. She had medium length black hair that went down in a ponytail that was threaded through a simple ball cap with the company logo imprinted on the front. She wore worn, but well loved clothing that had seen better days, and was somewhat skinny.

"Your package, sir. Sign here," she said crisply.

He vaguely noticed the skates on her shoes and wondered how exactly she managed to get down up the stairs of his safe-house wearing those.

He idly signed it with a fake name, and then took the package. There was something hauntingly familiar in those green eyes, and if he didn't know any better he'd swear she looked at him with odd recognition in her own eyes. Like she _knew_ him, and not just as a client.

It wasn't until a month later when the same brat tracked him down...and then he found out who she really was.

"Brat. How did you find me again?"

"If you know what to look for, the signs are easy enough to follow...Touya," she said evenly.

Rage and more than a slight hint of fear took over. He slammed the girl into the wall, uncaring of any witnesses. No one should know his real name, not after he left that so-called 'family' behind.

He might tolerate his siblings, should he ever run into them, but his father would be a dead man if he had any say about the matter.

"Who told you that name?" he demanded, angry. She was a dead girl if she gave the wrong answer.

"I knew it. I had a feeling it was you," she said relieved.

"What?"

As if the day couldn't get any more surreal, the girl used her quirk. Her right hand iced the wall behind her, while her left became ablaze in an all too familiar fire.

Dabi...or rather Touya...dropped her in shock. To insure there was no doubt as to her identity, she took out both the colored contacts, revealing a pair of heterochromatic eyes and removed the cap, showing off some rather distinct roots of a badly done dye job.

There was only _one_ person he knew who fit the description of what his eyes were telling him.

"Sakura?" he said in complete shock and disbelief.

If things weren't weird enough, Sakura dropped her quirk and promptly hugged him tight.

"Touya-nii-san."

Dabi, or rather Touya, felt the strong desire to make a very stiff drink.

_Some time later..._

Dabi looked at his youngest sister with no little amount of amazement and respect.

He never thought the youngest of that man's children would have the balls to ditch that caustic household _on her own_ at the tender age of nine, let alone know enough to successfully hide on the streets without getting killed or worse for three full years.

Sakura had always been so quiet, so mature... however he had always known there was a barely hidden cold rage towards that bastard hidden in her. It was a more advanced version of the hatred he had for that man in his own soul.

Dabi discreetly walked his little sister to the complex she was squatting in. Most of the people who lived there welcomed her presence gladly, as she provided a safe source of water and kept them comfortable during the harsher weather conditions of the summer and winter. Her dual quirk was quite useful in that regard.

An older beggar woman spotted them, and quietly called Sakura over for some 'change'.

Dabi's respect for his sister grew, because it quickly became apparent the woman was passing along vital information to his sister which had her scowling.

"Damn do-gooder heroes..." she muttered in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" asked Dabi.

"Some idiot hero decided that they would help the 'homeless children' squatting in the complex and is attempting to relocate them to 'better' homes without giving any regard of their opinion. And if they happen to have useful quirks, the better since they would remember them for his 'kindness' later once they were older," spat Sakura. "And considering how certain quirks run in families, odds are they might be relocated back to the same homes they ran away from."

Dabi grimaced. No wonder she was pissed...the second they found out they had discovered the missing daughter of Endeavor, the press would have a field day and would happily eat up the 'reunion'.

"What do you plan to do?" asked Dabi.

"The others have a set place to meet up in case we're ever raided by the cops, so we're going there first. I'll help relocate them to an area they can lay low until this nonsense dies down, then vacate the district entirely. If any measure of my actual description gets out, that bastard is sure to make an appearance."

Dabi thought over the situation. It wasn't until he saw how his baby sister organized the other runaways into discreetly hiding until the nonsense and publicity died down that he came to a decision.

She was surviving yes, but not thriving like she should. Seeing her mother hen the others into obeying reminded him of the difficulty _he_ had starting out on his own. He had cut all ties with his family for a reason...but perhaps here was a reason to reforge one.

* * *

If Dabi had been thrown by the fact his youngest sibling was surviving better than he had when he first struck out on his own, it was nothing compared to the fact he found himself _following orders_ from his youngest sibling.

Sakura had a rather realistic view of the world and a no-nonsense attitude that he could appreciate. She wasn't overly caught up in the morals that society instilled in the masses and was perfectly capable of being rather ruthless if the occasion called for it.

Like when they were running very low on funds and she literally robbed a villain in a dark alley. The idiot didn't even see her coming, and he was still left hogtied for the pathetic example of heroes in the area to arrest.

Dabi had a loose idea of how he wanted to shape his life, but he found it much more entertaining acting as his sister's back-up. Sakura was driven in ways he couldn't contemplate...not without a proper goal in mind.

She would make a terrifying hero, in his personal opinion.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Endeavor had made that particular career path as distasteful as it had for him.

Still, there were limits to the level of weirdness he was willing to tolerate.

Why in the name of all things sane and holy did his sister have to bring _her_ back to their safe house?

Her being one Himiko Toga, a bloodthirsty little sadist that Dabi had run into more than a few times in the underground fighting rinks. She was a sadist who got off on drinking blood and would happily gut anyone who looked at her funny.

And he had walked into the apartment one night after a job to find her happily listening to an amused Sakura who was teaching her gods knew what while holding a far too sharp knife for his liking.

He had no idea _what_ Sakura had done to win the complete and absolute loyalty of that bloodthirsty nutcase, or how the hell she was able to reign her in so effortlessly...but having her around gave Dabi headaches just thinking about it.

"Sakura...why?" asked Dabi, twitching as he unconsciously avoided another playful stab from Toga.

"Better to have the sadist on our side, then to deal with her later. Besides, can you imagine the chaos we could spread using her quirk? We could screw up that man's hero office so badly it'll take them weeks, if not months to fix," said Sakura.

Dabi twitched at the implications of that. Did not mean he appreciated having to deal with Toga's eccentric behavior patterns.

Sakura shook her head in amusement.

"You're not looking at the bigger picture, nii-san."

"What bigger picture?"

"Think of it this way. You find Toga's attempts to drink your blood a nuisance at this point, correct?"

"Absolutely," said Dabi with irritation.

"So what would happen if you faced a villain or other idiot armed with knives trying to stab you in your blindspot?" asked Sakura.

Dabi blinked, thought that one through before he made a face.

"You have got to be joking."

"Constant paranoia... I mean vigilance... could be the difference between getting knifed in the back by a dumbass with a blade or turning them into ashes," said Sakura flatly.

"...I think I hate you."

"If you find her annoying to deal with, just imagine the fun the heroes are going to have with her later once we've gotten her _trained_. A natural assassin and spy like her would be a nightmare to deal with," said Sakura gleefully.

Dabi looked at the creepily happy Toga, then at his sister who looked positively _evil_.

"You're not going villain, are you?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Puh-lease. Villains and heroes are so damn overrated and cliché it's not even worth bothering with. I refuse to go down the path of an overused super villain...that way leads to monologues and idiotic hiring choices, not to mention the annoyance that is the pro heroes coming after you every time you do anything interesting," said Sakura.

Dabi snorted at that.

"No, I have something better in mind. I want to organize the vigilantes."

Dabi looked confused.

"Organize the vigilantes?" he repeated.

Sakura's eyes gleamed. Even Toga was sitting up intently now...she could sense the wheels of history turning, and best of all she had the potential to be remembered for _centuries_ if they did this right.

"With the way the laws are written, the only way anyone is allowed to actually _explore_ the full extent of their quirk is to either become a pro hero, a vigilante, or a villain...depending on the individual's motivations of course. And let's face it, pro heroes are only useful for propaganda purposes at this point because they've allowed themselves to slack off thanks to the shining beacon that is All Might."

Dabi and Toga both nodded in agreement to that. Most pro heroes these days were an absolute joke, with a few glaring exceptions.

"And villains aren't much better. Most of the better ones have the sense to bide their time until something happens to All Might, and then the floodgates are going to open in a wave that will almost certainly wipe out a sizeable chunk of the pro hero class. Hell, odds are it would spark a massive war that would leave untold devastation if it's not handled correctly and with proper timing," said Sakura.

"That makes sense...with how much effort All Might and the decent ones are putting in, most of the smart villains have went underground and focused on building up their forces," said Dabi. "He's got to be at _least_ fifty now, and it wouldn't be that surprising for things to go to hell once he retires or suffers an injury he can't recover from."

"I think he already has. I've been keeping a close eye on him for a while now for that exact reason, and I think he's tangled with someone who caused a pretty serious wound. So much so he might be looking for someone to take his place. Add in his age and the toll of being that active takes on the body..." said Sakura.

Dabi winced.

"What about the third faction?"

"Vigilantes are, for the most part, neither good or evil. They're the neutrals that for one reason or another have failed to gain the legitimacy needed to become a serious player. However if someone were to _organize_ them into a major faction, they could easily tip the scales so that the fallout from losing All Might doesn't completely send the world into a downward spiral," said Sakura flatly. "Look at Toga-chan for example. With her personality and quirk, she could be an excellent villain because her habits would make her an 'unacceptable' hero in the eyes of the public."

Toga nodded at that. Her own parents had thrown her out when the full extent of her quirk became known.

"However once she had a proper direction, she would become a devastating force for whatever side she's on. Especially if we can fix that chemical instability," said Sakura.

"Awww... I thought you liked me the way I was!" pouted Toga.

"I do. However that habit of yours has a bad habit of giving you tunnel vision. What would happen if you were sent to infiltrate a major hero meeting and your desire for blood caused you to reveal yourself prematurely? The information you have would be lost and you would be arrested," said Sakura flatly. "What I want to do is give you a more even keel so that when you come across someone you really want to cut up, you won't be blinded to your surroundings and get taken out."

Toga glomped her, without attempting to cut her. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her after learning her habits.

"So what are you planning to do?" asked Dabi, fully interested now.

Sakura smirked.

"Do you know what the definition of an anti-hero is?"


	21. This Light of Mine Chapter Two

Dabi had to admit, his sister's plan had some serious merit. She wasn't being idealistic...she was being ruthlessly pragmatic about her intentions. Neither of the siblings ever wanted to be a pro hero...particularly on the off chance that they would have to one day work with that asshole.

She even had a way of getting them semi-legitimate jobs to help build their reputation...all difficult as hell, but the rewards were more than worth it.

"Explain to me again why we're guarding some kid?" asked Toga.

"The Yaoyorozu family are rich, well connected and highly respected. Their daughter is going on a school trip soon and there has been some vague threats against the family in general. The father wants to make sure his child is protected until they're dealt with by the heroes, without interrupting his daughter's school life with an obvious bodyguard," said Sakura.

"So how did you get this job? I doubt they're going to hire some kids without a license," asked Dabi, genuinely curious.

Sakura snorted.

"You're forgetting something important. The asshole never filed a missing person report on his 'intern'," said Sakura.

Dabi blinked.

"What?"

"My provisional license as a intern for the asshole's office is still valid. The family only checked to see if the license was an active number...they never checked to see if I was still working with him. After all, who would think to question someone like him over an intern trying to make a little extra cash on the side?"

Dabi cackled. His baby sister was incredibly devious and by the time that particular bit of miscommunication was cleared up their name would be out there as discreet bodyguards for the underage. Most of the rich families would be more than happy to pay for a semi-legitimate protection for their brats that wouldn't disrupt said kid's personal life.

And by the time people figured out the truth, there was a chance their reputation would have grown that no one would really care about it.

"How did you learn this stuff anyway?" asked Toga.

"That...is a secret~!" said Sakura mischievously. Seeing the looks on their faces, she cackled. "I'll tell you later, once we're done."

_A few hours later..._

Yaoyorozu Momo was less than thrilled hearing she would be getting bodyguards for her school trip. She hated being the center of attention like that, and the other girls always got so snippy whenever her wealth was brought up.

That or they tried to worm their way into her good graces to earn 'tidbits' as her mother had once put it.

The guy didn't look very heroic, in her opinion. He had scars on his face and he was rather intimidating. And for some strange reason he didn't really stick close to her at all.

She was happily chatting with her few casual friends on the bus when it happened. A car came speeding past, before blocking the front of the bus while a second came up and prevented them from backing out. As they were inside a tunnel, they were effectively trapped inside.

Momo was freaked out. She had just recently gotten a recommendation spot at UA, and she vaguely knew there had been some threats made against her family because of it, but she didn't know that something like _this_ would happen!

Were people really that cutthroat about getting their kids into UA without having to go through the entrance exam?

"Stay down, princess. I'll take care of these idiots."

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be guarding me? Why would you confront them directly?" said Momo confused.

He smirked.

"Who said I was the only guard on the bus?" he countered. "I'm just the bait for anyone stupid enough to attack."

Momo blinked, before she watched as he practically _decimated_ the idiots trying to kidnap or hurt her.

If he wasn't the only bodyguard on the bus, who else was here? Her father had only introduced her to the odd masked man before she left for school.

Unnoticed, the two 'extra' girls kept a close eye on the heiress who had no idea they were so close.

"Dabi's doing really well out there," commented Toga, completely confident in whatever trickery Sakura had going to keep them unnoticed by everyone else.

The plan was elegant in it's simplicity. Dabi would act as the 'bodyguard' and draw out anyone stupid enough to go after the girl, while Sakura and Toga would stay close to their paycheck and keep an eye on her discreetly. While everyone was busy looking at him, they'd miss the two girls coming in from behind.

With the idiots dealt with, the bus continued on it's way. The local hero had been alerted, so the fools would be arrested soon enough. With such a capable bodyguard on board, the teachers felt secure enough to continue the trip.

"I can't believe they're going anyway," said Dabi in annoyance.

"They're spoiled rich kids, nii-san. They wouldn't know real danger unless it bit them in the ass. Once we're at the destination I'll stick closer to the girl, but the next best chance to attack would be the return trip..." said Sakura.

"Agreed. Have fun," said Dabi.

Considering Sakura had fled the house so young, this was likely the first time she had ever _been_ on a school trip like this. She had become home-schooled by her own choice at an early age out of necessity.

The trip was boring enough...with the bloodthirsty Toga around, any would be opportunists soon found themselves on the wrong end of a knife. It was ridiculously easy to pick them off...thanks to the donation of blood from the parents, she took the form of the target and walked off into discreet alleys to eliminate the would-be kidnappers. The idiots never saw her coming.

Meanwhile Sakura kept the heiress safe with her friends while Toga and Dabi worked.

If she quietly enjoyed the trip, well, neither of them were going to say anything about the matter.

The only real annoyance during the remainder of the trip came on the way back. There was a second attack...only this time the local heroes were alerted to the issue and had decided to grab a bit of extra glory by sticking their nose into things.

"Nii-san, what's going on?" asked Sakura, wandering over to where Dabi was arguing with the local heroes.

"These idiots are keeping us from completing the mission," said Dabi irritably.

"If you could just hand over your license and prove you're legitimate..." said the hero suspiciously.

Dabi looked ready to burn the fool into a crisp. Anyone could tell the hero was only doing this because he wanted to endear himself to the client's parents. After all, he was so small time that he was just barely out of the side-kick stage. This sort of thing could easily promote him enough that he could start making real money.

Sakura sighed, and pulled out the provisional license.

"Dabi, let me handle this idiot. It seems a few misconceptions need to be...cleared up."

Dabi took one look at the expression in his sister's eyes, and almost pitied the moron. Almost.

Anyone that stupid and greedy deserved whatever his devious baby sister was certain to come up with.

He didn't hear what his sister said, but he could see the cringe and the way the hero back-pedaled rather quickly easily enough. So did the client's daughter.

Which was why the girl approached Sakura immediately after, out of hearing of her little group.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the person who convinced your father to hire a group of unknowns," said Sakura bluntly. "It's rather hard to dispute our ability when I kicked the ass of the hired thugs he had on his payroll without breaking a sweat."

"So if you're the bodyguard, then who is..."

"That's my older brother, the official 'face' of the group so to speak. It's easier to pretend he's the leader and ignore the fact it's a thirteen year old giving the actual orders," deadpanned Sakura.

"Why did that hero back off?" asked Momo. Even she knew what that idiot was really after.

"He realized he was about to irritate someone that was so far above his league that it would get him into more trouble than trying to endear him with your parents was worth."

That plus the sheer level of concentrated killing intent, but that was more of an incentive after he verified that her license _was_ in fact registered to Endeavor's hero agency. He did _not_ want to piss off Endeavor, especially over something as trivial as his intern making a little side money.

Once Momo was dropped off at her parent's mansion, Dabi checked their bank account after a few hours. The client had been more than generous, especially since Momo had no idea how closely she was protected until the end.

* * *

Like Sakura predicted, once word spread of a three-man group able to guard a client that closely without disturbing their daily routine that was semi-legitimate, they soon had several more requests.

It didn't take long for others to hear of how successful they were being and to take an interest in their operations.

Sakura looked at the seven mercenaries laid out on the floor groaning. They had mistaken Dabi as the leader and humored her request for a sparring match, never realizing their error until it was far too late.

"You... how did you beat my men?" demanded their leader, who had been standing next to Dabi the entire time.

"Who ever said my brother was the leader of our operation?" said Sakura, staring him down without fear.

The man laughed coldly.

"You're good, girl. I'll give you that. But give me one good reason why we should consider joining your group?"

"I want to organize the fringe groups before a war sparks and they're turned into cannon fodder," said Sakura bluntly.

Seeing she had his full attention, Sakura explained her plan.

"Let's face it, All Might is old and he's been acting as the pillar for the current society so long that once his support is gone, the villains who have been hiding their real strength are going to have an absolute field day. Any idiot that takes him out is going to score one hell of a propaganda coup against the hero class. And with how pathetic they are now, a lot of people are going to die in the process... especially those in the fringes like us, who do the dirty work that the cops and the heroes can't do because of politics and the fact the press would eat them alive."

"You may have a point, but what does that have to do with us?" asked the leader.

"Who are the heroes and villains going to hire out first to do their dirty work? Lets face it, the mercenaries are scattered and divided, and it would be all too easy for either side to justify our loss as 'expendable' because we're not one of them. After all, we're only in it for the money," said Sakura. "But...what would happen if they had to hire to a large _group_ of mercenaries who sent out people who were trained and had people who can and would come after their ass for betraying us?"

Seeing she had the undivided attention of the men, who were slowly picking themselves up, Sakura smirked.

"Who cares about the petty squabbles of heroes and villains? We're the people who work in the shadows because it's the only place we fit in and we do it for damn good money in the process. We're not some shiny pro hero who's in it for the fame and glory who's paycheck is contingent on how popular they are. Nor are we villains who are in it to make the world pay for whatever grievance we fell is owed to us. We're the anti-heroes, who do good deeds because we're paid, not because we actually give a damn about morals," said Sakura.

Dead silence. Then, the leader of the mercenaries who had challenged her did something unusual.

He started laughing.

"I like you," he said simply. "You're our sort of brat, and you clearly know the name of the game. But give me one good reason why I should put my men under your banner?"

She smirked.

"Actions are louder than words. There's nothing I can say to convince you I'm a decent leader for you or your men, but what about a collaboration effort? Let me lead a few of your men in one of our missions and let their words convince you," said Sakura sensibly. "At the worst you lose a paycheck or two."

Seeing the intrigued gleam in his eyes, he made a decision.

"One month. I'm giving you one month of joint missions to convince me you're worth our time."

Sakura would be rather pleased that by the end of the month, she not only had the nine men who had come to investigate their group, but thirty more who had heard through word of mouth from the first group who were interested in what she had planned.

Mercenaries might be in it for themselves, but even they couldn't ignore what she already knew to be true. The world was standing on the precipice of a powder keg about to blow, and unless they were careful they would end up dead and forgotten on the sidelines.

Even they had their pride and dying like cannon fodder after being picked off by either side was not something any man wanted for their ending. Even if their only other option was to group up and follow the orders of a barely-minted teenage girl.

* * *

Izuku was positively terrified, but he still kept following the strange girl who helped him like a baby chick. It was one thing to seek out villain fights...this was like walking into a den of battle-hardened wolves.

Hearing the men jeer and call him a bunny was _not_ helping his peace of mind.

As if the situation wasn't surreal enough, the girl who saved him...was the one the leaders were all looking to!

"What's this? Our esteemed leader brings us a little bunny?"

"Before you dismiss the small rabbit, I suggest you look at this."

Izuku watched as she tossed him his missing notebook. He had looked everywhere for it after she saved him, but he had never been able to find it. He never thought she had picked it up or found it interesting enough to bring him here!

"Hmm? This is...!"

"Pretty good for a civvie with no training, wouldn't you agree?" she said calmly. "Imagine how good he could get if he were taught what to look for."

Izuku felt a strange sense of pride at the way the man was looking at him.

Also, a distinct sense of trepidation.

"You, boy. Did you make this or did someone give it to you to hide?" asked the man.

"I...wrote those. I like seeing heroes at work, and picking apart their quirks," he admitted quietly.

"What's your quirk?" asked the scarred man, leaning against the chair the girl was at.

Izuku mumbled under his breath. Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, he repeated himself a bit louder.

"I don't have one."

"Neither do a third of the people in the room kid. Why else would they become mercs in this shitty society?" scoffed one man to the side.

Izuku's head whipped in his direction in shock.

He got up and walked towards the kid, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Most of my men don't have any fancy pants special tricks, and yet they're still the most dedicated and fierce fighters you'll ever meet. Just means you have to work a bit harder to whatever goal you want to accomplish. Also means the capes and the idiots they fight rarely take you seriously unless you kneecap their ass."

Seeing the dawning hope in the kid's eyes, Sakura smirked.

"What do you say, Takeshi-san. Should we take the kid on and teach him how to really fight? From what I can tell he has a lot of potential waiting to be unleashed."

Something told him that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn his life around.

"Please, let me join you! I don't want to be useless Deku anymore!"

The men all looked at each other, while Sakura smirked...though there was a hint of empathy in her eyes.

If someone had given her this sort of chance in her past life at any point before she turned seventeen, she would have jumped on it just as fast.

"You sure kid? We won't take it easy on you, and you'll curse us more than a few times before we consider you ready. Mercs like us don't have a long life span, and some might consider us villains," said the scarred man.

Izuku felt his resolve strengthen.

"Everyone seems to think you need a quirk to be a hero. I want to prove them wrong and join UA on my own terms, even if I don't have one."

"UA?" said the scarred man.

"I think we should do it. The more 'legitimate' heroes we have in our group the less likely the capes are to try and call us villains," said Sakura. "After all, were going to be competing for the same source of income, but we don't have as many restrictions. Besides...this means we have someone who can act as our public face for the masses if we need it."

"Hell, let the kid in. At worst we'll just have to move the public base to another district later," said one of the men.

The scarred man smirked.

"Welcome to the Shades, little bunny. I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked repeatedly."

Izuku had a dawning sense of doom, but there was also a bit of hope that he could prove Bakugo wrong once and for all.


	22. Fulmination Chapter One

When he was very little, Izuku found a strange cave that had a massive hole in the ceiling and an oddly mystical lake with a rock that was overgrown with weeds and who knew what else. His friend Bakugo had been unimpressed with the lack of treasure or anything else interesting, but Izuku had found it a place of quiet...and would treat the hidden cave as his secret hiding space.

It was only when he was twelve and having a really bad day that he would find out what the overgrown rock in the middle of the lake actually _was_.

Izuku stumbled into the cave, wincing at the bruised rib he had from Bakugo's quirk.

You would think the teachers would at least chastise the boy for not controlling his power properly, but no...they had to _praise_ him for creating a blast radius strong enough to throw the quirkless kid with dreams of being a hero into a damn tree.

Any friendship he had with Bakugo died once the teachers stopped bothering to tell him off for using his quirk on the 'powerless' kid in class. The more they praised him, the worse his ego became until he was an obnoxious prick.

And puberty, Izuku knew, was only going to make that problem worse.

Now, if there was one thing Izuku knew about the small lake in the cave, it was that it was nice and cold and would likely feel really good against his bruises. At the very least it might numb the pain a bit...enough to hide it from his mother.

Izuku slipped out of his clothes and into his boxers. He didn't want to explain why his uniform was soaking wet later. The water was chilly, and he might have jumped out if not for the fact it was cold enough to soothe his poor ribs.

He soaked in the lake for at least twenty minutes, until he started to shiver. Knowing he would have to warm up a bit, and since he had some time to kill before dinner, he decided to go for a swim. He had never really been to the center of the lake, where that odd rock was.

The rock was really strange. The bottom half looked normal, but the top half...well, it warranted a closer look.

Izuku brushed off a bit of the top...and was startled to feel something like _metal._

Confused, he brushed a bit more off the 'rock'...only to discover that it wasn't entirely a rock at all.

There was something else there.

Excited, Izuku would have cleaned it off, had he not noticed the time. He would have to come back tomorrow.

He barely managed to make it home in time.

_The next morning..._

Izuku went straight out the door and headed right to the cave. Today was a day off from school, and he hadn't bothered to hang out with Bakugo since the ass had found that he became more 'popular' whenever he used his quirk on Izuku.

Ever since they started middle school, Bakugo had discovered his 'popularity' only increased by using his former friend as a punching bag. Especially if he used his quirk.

Izuku swam towards the center of the lake. He had barely made to the cave in time, a nasty storm was about to hit today, which meant he would have to spend a few hours inside anyway.

Using his hands, he managed to slowly but surely uncover the secret in the rock.

It wasn't a rock at all...not entirely anyway. The growth had hidden something incredible...a mysterious metal weapon that almost looked like a hammer, but was far too bulky compared to the ones he was used to.

Izuku reached for the handle of the weapon. His hand grasped the smooth metal/wood combination, and he felt something weird from it. It almost felt like it was testing him for something.

He carefully began to pick up the hammer. It had taken him an hour to clean off the worst of the muck on it, and it looked really heavy.

Strangely, the hammer was surprisingly light in his hand. It had a bit of weight to it, but not to the extent he expected.

Unseen, the storm clouds began to gather in force above the cave. Lightning rolled across the horizon, gathering strength. Thunder peeled across the town.

Izuku lifted the hammer completely from the rock.

The sky cracked open as a _massive_ bolt of thunder struck the cave squarely in the opening, hitting Izuku directly. It was utterly terrifying.

Izuku thought there would be pain...after all, most people are lucky to survive a normal thunderbolt. This one was far bigger than any he had seen his entire life.

Instead of pain, however, there was a strange surge of what could only be _power_ flowing through his veins. His bruises and the other odd injuries he usually got from Bakugo healed over in a matter of seconds, and the power of lightning seemed to make him even stronger than before. Like he _was_ the lightning.

When it was all over, Izuku nearly dropped the hammer. He was panting from shock and exertion.

He would honestly say he had no idea _how_ he made it home that day. His mother was worried sick, and once he ate dinner he went straight to sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days, nothing really special happened. Bakugo was still an ass, but Izuku didn't really give him much opportunity to harass him.

Then it happened. After a particularly bad day for him, in which a teacher actually bitched him out for using his quirk on another student...who wasn't Izuku naturally, but he had come to 'accept' the hypocrisy of the teaching staff when it came to Bakugo... the blond went looking for the one student he could more or less bully as much as he wanted to establish his dominance again.

Izuku found himself cornered by Bakugo and his idiotic cronies. He knew it was going to suck, but he wouldn't give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

It took Izuku five long minutes to realize Bakugo's punches didn't hurt as much as it normally did. In fact, he barely felt them and he knew all too well Bakugo didn't bother holding back his punches when he was in a foul mood.

Years of pent up frustration and anger over the fact the teachers would ignore almost anything done to him by Bakugo or his cronies because he was 'quirkless' and his dream was 'pointless' because he didn't have a special power fueled what happened next.

He was sick of being picked on. He was tired of everyone telling him that his dream was hopeless because he wasn't born with some fancy ability. More importantly he wanted to let Bakugo know he didn't appreciate being used as a damn punching bag simply because he was a convenient victim for the blond.

He balled up his fist, and before he could really stop himself, punched Bakugo square in the nose. The feeling was incredibly satisfying.

However what he expected to happen and what actually did were so far off that it was hard to explain.

He fully expected Bakugo to at worst get a bloody nose. Sure, it would mean a worse beating than normal, but he was sick of this.

He did _not_ expect the blond to be sent _flying_ into the wall and be knocked out conscious.

Seeing their ringleader knocked out cold by their punching bag, the other bullies stared dumbly at the scene. Then they heard a sound, and like the sheep they were, scattered.

They only followed Bakugo because he was the 'strongest' and it meant they could bully others to make themselves feel more powerful. They never expected their usual victim to fight back, or to have the strength to take out the explosive blond.

Izuku looked at his fist. Then at Bakugo. Then at his fist again.

Disbelief filled his features, before common sense and long experience kicked in and had him vacating the area.

The hallway might not be well traveled, but he sure as hell didn't want to be seen by anyone of authority with Bakugo out like that. For one thing they'd blame him and never really give a damn about the fact Bakugo had cornered him there to beat the shit out of him. For another he didn't want to explain _how_ he had knocked Bakugo out with a single hit.

He needed time to think, and after that thunderstorm he wasn't inclined to go to his usual spot.

He headed straight home, since the day was already over and he didn't want anyone to stop him.

His mother was out with her friends and wouldn't be back until dinner.

Izuku went and pulled out the strange hammer he had found. Apparently it was called a 'warhammer', which was the closest thing he could find matching it's description.

He finished his limited homework in record time. He needed the distraction.

Then he turned on his computer. He needed information, and his best chance to find what to look for was on the internet. Rather than go to his usual hero sites, he typed in his favorite search engine.

He typed the words 'war hammer' and 'lightning', as he vividly remembered that massive thunderbolt and how he managed to survive it.

The first thing that popped up was references to a game called "Warhammer". He ignored it and tried a different tactic. It took him three more tries to get the right words to find something useful, and that was mostly due to old legends about a sword in a rock.

"Mjolnir, the mythical weapon of the Norse pantheon belonging to Thor, the god of thunder. Mjolnir is one of the most iconic weapons in the Norse pantheon and the most famous mythological hammer of all time. It is known to channel lightning and create storms. Legend states that only those 'worthy' of wielding it's might are allowed to carry it, though Thor is the only known owner to date," Izuku read.

There were several 'possible' pictures of Mjolnir, but the limited description fit the hammer he had found well enough. However the only way to know for sure if he had found the legendary hammer would be if he could summon lightning with it.

Izuku went to a different secluded spot. He had the hammer in his backpack, and it was still a lot lighter than he expected.

Making sure no one was around, Izuku took it out. It fit almost naturally in his grip.

Then he realized something important.

He had no idea how he was supposed to summon_ lightning_ of all things!

Almost as if the hammer could sense his thoughts (it could, to an extent), lightning began to crackle along the head and on his hands. The second he registered this important fact, he yelped loudly before accidentally throwing it at a nearby tree, which blew up from the force.

Izuku stared at the destroyed tree, then at the hammer in his hand. Electricity still crackled along the metal, but it merely felt 'tingly' rather than painful.

"No way..." he said in shock.

He had stumbled across an honest-to-kami _mythical_ weapon! More to the point he was able to use a small part of it's abilities! This was... this was beyond words!

* * *

Izuku's usual habits of over-doing things lead him to extensive experimenting with his new weapon. Finally, a chance to be an actual hero and to help protect others!

However, there was one small issue. Namely that the hammer was far too noticeable and it wouldn't take long before an adult tried to confiscate it. If they could anyway...he had discovered by accident when his mother attempted to lift his bag...which had Mjolnir inside...that only he could lift the hammer as it was 'too heavy' for her.

It took him all of a month to figure out the most basic of basic tricks...and a few others that would drive people crazy but weren't actually illegal.

Case in point, when he accidentally learned how to siphon off power from electronics. Took him hours to figure out it was his fault his laptop couldn't hold a charge while he was practicing. It wasn't much of a power boost, but as a tactic to drive others to frustration, it was rather effective.

He could think of several people who would be driven up the wall because their precious cell phones suddenly died.

To that end, Izuku started quietly siphoning power every time he left the house. It was a bit tricky, but eventually he figured out how to do it without having to concentrate so much.

(It would lead to a rather amusing situation later, but that was another story.)

The first indication it was working was the outraged cry from one girl in class who was constantly texting on her phone.

Needless to say it was confiscated by the teachers almost immediately, but that lead to an avalanche of students taking out their phones only to discover their batteries were completely dead.

The only person who didn't lose their phone that day was Izuku, and that was because he didn't want to drain his own battery as well.

It was surprisingly easy to move from draining electronics in a confined area to leeching power directly from the wall sockets. Sure, it made the electricity bill skyrocket to rather appalling levels, but so long as he never did it in his own home he never bothered to think too hard about it.

It wasn't like anyone could trace it back to him, as everyone knew he was "quirkless". And if he did suddenly gain one, most would expect him to crow it to the roof and show it off like everyone else did in class. They'd never believe he'd keep his silence.

Izuku was rather curious about a new villain the heroes were having trouble finding. They were calling him "Blackout" because whenever he showed up, all the electronics in a certain area were knocked out...including security cameras. It took the power companies and other workers _hours_ to get things functioning again.

The problem was no one had any idea what the villain looked like, just what his quirk was. Trying to find an energy vampire was proving rather difficult as they had yet to make any real attempts at criminal activity.

It would only be much, much later that Izuku made the connection between "Blackout" and his habit of siphoning off electricity from the surrounding area. As it was, he was incredibly mortified learning he had his own villain name despite not actually DOING anything.


	23. Heroic Healer Chapter One

**Minor time travel elements will show up later. Just giving you a head's up!**

* * *

Chiyo could honestly say she never expected this. She had gotten an application recently regarding a possible internship that would allow the applicant to also gain a provisional hero's license in return.

The applicant's knowledge base was sound and they were mostly lacking real world experience to gain a full medical doctorate. As for the hero's license, well that was mostly so they could act in live villain fights without being considered a vigilante in the process if they used their quirks.

They weren't allowed to target the villain directly, but with the license they could go in to active fights and bandage up the pro heroes without the police or heroes stopping them.

She just never expected the applicant to be twelve...or quirkless.

"I must say I'm impressed. I never expected someone your age to be able to complete most of the work required to earn a medical license," she said honestly.

Midoriya Izuku shifted slightly, almost out of nervous habit.

"There's an age restriction for the police academy, but not on earning a medical degree. As for earning my doctorate, well nothing says I can intern with a known medical hero while earning my medical degree until I reach the minimum age limit of a provisional hero's license," said Izuku. "Besides, doctors are paid more and save more lives."

Chiyo could appreciate his reasoning. Hero licenses were _only_ issued to people who were of age to be considered adults. However the same was not true of a medical license. Sure, they might have to deal with a lot of irritation due to their age, but it was still possible.

"Why contact me? I'm sure there are a few retired heroes who would be interested in making you their intern."

"Because I need to get as far away from my current school as possible without leaving the district, and what better place to get real world experience healing heroes than UA? Not only does it make obtaining a provisional license easier later, but I'd get plenty of practice dealing with all the headaches of healing heroes and learn how to defend myself. That plus the fact it's considered a premiere school means that people will respect me in the field more," said Izuku.

"What do you mean you need to get away from your current school?" asked Chiyo. Something about how he said that rang alarm bells in her mind.

Izuku's expression went flat.

"My current school allows students to run rampant with their quirks, particularly if they have something impressive enough to earn a place in hero academies like UA. The teachers do little if nothing to stop their behavior and one student in particular is swiftly on his way to becoming a villain with his bullying habits. Unfortunately my mother happens to be friends with that student's mother, so it would be incredibly awkward if I were to report this matter to the police directly."

"Do you have proof of this?"

Izuku raised his shirt. Chiyo's eyebrows went up in alarm and shock at the number of scars on his body...from an explosion-type quirk if she wasn't mistaken.

"I have little doubt that once his primary victim is removed from the equation, he'll turn his ire to someone else and maybe their parents will finally DO something about it."

"Why not ask your mother to pull you from the school?"

Izuku thought of the best way to phrase this.

"Imagine how a pro hero like Endeavor would react if someone who was a low-level sidekick his entire career suddenly swept in and took the position of number one hero from All Might after all the effort he's put in to make himself look like the best," said Izuku.

Seeing Recovery Girl work that one through her head and cringe was enough for him to know she got the gist.

"Now add a lack of self control and a quirk that can literally cause explosions with the same sort of ego and disregard for others that Endeavor has," said Izuku. "The last thing I want to be responsible for is an unintentional massacre because he lost his cool and used his quirk in an enclosed environment."

Well at least the boy had the right mindset for a proper hero.

"What about your mother?"

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission. She won't ask questions until the teachers call her about my 'absences' and it's easier to explain things after the fact."

Inko was supportive, mostly, but she wouldn't believe him capable of earning a doctorate so early without actual proof. Revealing he had dropped out of his current school in favor of an internship that would let him obtain his dream would be easier if she wasn't in on his plans from the get-go.

Besides, he could never find a way to explain his complicated and highly caustic relationship with Bakugo Katsuki without making her feel incredibly guilty because he lost the genetic lottery and didn't have a quirk.

Recovery Girl looked at the boy seriously. He was an incredibly mature and slightly odd child, but he was trying to find a way out of a rather bad situation. While it would be odd to have an intern as young as him in the school, if he could handle the workload and knew what he was doing then it would be a waste to make him linger in a secondary school.

"Give me three days to get something set up. If you can handle what I have planned as a test, then I will consider making you my apprentice. However if you can't then I will have to reject your application. Though I will be having words with the Principal regarding the issue you spoke of at your school."

A school allowing their students to run rampant and not keeping their quirks in check was a serious matter.

_A little while later..._

The meeting with Nezu and Izuku was somewhat anticlimactic. Apparently Izuku did have _some_ knowledge in how to handle less than human quirks, but he still needed more studying before he could handle it on his own.

Chiyo had a strangely foreboding feeling when she heard the principal cackle at Izuku's reasoning for allowing the apprenticeship, despite the fact Izuku was three years too young to join UA as a normal student.

Apparently Nezu thought the idea of a quirkless student like Izuku getting a rare and coveted apprenticeship with a UA teacher as well as potentially gaining a provisional license as a pro hero was hilarious...in that it would piss off heroes like Endeavor and others who though that flashy quirks were the only thing one needed to become a good pro hero.

It would cause all sorts of ripples if Izuku successfully managed to obtain a license without a quirk, all because of a legal loophole. The fact it could potentially open a way for others like Izuku or those with less than flashy quirks to become heroes was a bonus.

Either way, it would set a precedent.

Recovery Girl gave Izuku a series of exams that came out of medical school. If he could pass most of them, then at least he had a proper grounding in what she would be teaching him.

Much to her surprise (and delight) he managed to pass seventy percent of it, and the wrong answers were acceptable enough that it was clear he merely needed to do a bit of studying to get them right. For a twelve year old, the mere fact he got that much was astounding.

Then came the rough practical. Izuku was slightly awkward, but he handled himself better than most his age would.

"What do you think, Chiyo-sensei?" asked Nezu honestly. This decision was ultimately up to her after all.

"Hmm...he's a bit rough around the edges, and his knowledge base could use some work. But he could work out as a general apprentice provided we put some guidelines in place," said Chiyo. Neither missed the look of hope in Izuku's expression.

Nezu nodded in agreement to that. It was going to be a headache to allow Izuku into UA since he was entering into an apprenticeship with one of the pro heroes instead of as an actual student, never mind the fact he had no quirk. If they didn't have sufficient guidelines it would only bite them in the ass later.

* * *

Nezu observed the rather interesting young man that had managed to secure a provisional apprenticeship with Recovery Girl. Young Izuku was a rather interesting human child...and not even Chiyo-sensei could have anticipated how fast he would pick things up.

It was more like he merely needed a refresher course before he took his lessons like a duck to water.

And that was _before_ Izuku started writing down what looked like the chemical compositions of potential medicines.

Chiyo-sensei had already sent one off to a trusted friend of hers in the pharmaceutical industry to see if the chain was viable, and had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Izuku had somehow created a new medicine that could be applied to eye drops for heroes who had ocular quirks...like Eraserhead for instance.

So far it was still in the clinical trial stage, once they figured out how to create it anyway...but the results looked highly promising and Aizawa had already been slated to act as one of the human trials.

From what they could tell, it would completely replace the current medicine for chronic dry eye used by heroes.

Honestly, Nezu was more surprised that it took two full months before Izuku's old school finally had enough of his 'chronic absences' that they called his mother in. Since he left home every day at the same time he normally would have, and came back like normal, Inko had absolutely no idea her son had dropped out of his old school and had taken up an apprenticeship at UA.

And to be honest, after seeing the rather damning videos the boy had produced thanks to a personal body camera he kept on him, he didn't blame the boy in the least for going to such extremes.

As it was, Nezu was going to _personally_ visit the school with Recovery Girl around the time of the meeting to deliver the news that Izuku's former school and most of the teachers were going to be subject to a full investigation.

There was absolutely no excuse for the teachers to allow their students to run rampant with their quirks, never mind the video evidence of them subtly _encouraging_ young Bakugo into using his explosion quirk on another student. The fact the boy never got a reprimand once for using it in class was damning enough, as it was a very dangerous quirk that could have lethal consequences if he built up a big enough charge.

Endeavor at least had the sense to _hide_ that particular aspect of his personality until he had a big enough following and clout to handle the repercussions. The way Bakugo was going, it was more likely he'd cause a major incident and be labeled a _villain_ after causing an untold amount of collateral damage.

Nezu and Recovery Girl didn't hide the fact they were entering the building. Their appearance alone had the students in an uproar, and the poor secretary was rather flustered as she tried to explain the principal was in a meeting with a parent regarding a certain student.

Nezu smirked, as Chiyo-sensei calming explained they would go in regardless, as it pertained to the student in question.

The expression of shock and recognition on their faces, as well as the bored relief on Izuku was rather hilarious.

"I almost thought you would miss the timing," commented Izuku. "Cutting it close, aren't you?"

"Well we had a bit of difficulty regarding traffic," said Chiyo-sensei. "Some poor misguided fool gave the rookie heroes no end of trouble and blocked it for fifteen minutes."

"What is going on here?" demanded the principal, once he had his wits gathered.

There was a reason why Izuku kept his silence about the apprenticeship to the school and his mother. He realized that Principal Nezu would get no end of sadistic pleasure delivering the news _personally_ to the idiots who had let things get so out of control.

The mad cackling Nezu let off when he realized the extent of Izuku's quiet sadism gave the other teachers nightmares.

Izuku watched silently in dark satisfaction as his former principal was thoroughly chewed out by Nezu and Recovery Girl, complete with the video evidence supplied by Izuku and the testimony of the person they sent in to act as a substitute teacher for two days.

Todoroki Fuyumi was _appalled_ at the lack of discipline and if they hadn't told her to ignore the class using their quirks in front of her, she would have frozen them on the spot and given them one hell of a lecture. And the worst offender in that class was none other than Bakugo Katsuki.

It hadn't taken much to draw parallels between Bakugo and her father.

Inko was silent through most of it, but the shock on her face upon learning that the reason her son had been 'skipping' class was because he had an apprenticeship with a pro hero was pretty evident. _Especially_ when she found out why Izuku had reached out to Recovery Girl of all people.

She didn't know whether to be proud of her son for finding a way to become a hero, or ashamed of the fact she hadn't noticed what he was doing.

It was a somber Inko who spoke to her son that night.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Would you have believed me if I said I was trying to earn a doctorate after recently getting into middle school?" said Izuku sensibly. "The only way you'd take me seriously would be if I got the apprenticeship first and presented it to you after the fact."

Inko silently acknowledged the truth of that. If Recovery Girl and the principal of UA hadn't presented evidence that Izuku was not only doing well in his new chosen profession, but actually _thriving_, she never would have believed it. It hurt that her son did this behind her back though.

* * *

_Bakugo POV_

He was _pissed_. There was no other word for it. Not only had the school been forcibly shut down pending a major investigation, but he had been told in no uncertain terms that he would have to undergo mandatory therapy sessions for a minimum of one year or else the major hero schools would refuse his application. The fact that UA was spearheading the investigation and laid down the ultimatum served to majorly piss him off, because it meant he couldn't skip out of it or he could kiss being a pro hero goodbye.

At least the loser Deku wouldn't be around to dampen his parade anymore. Apparently he had been kicked out before the investigation because he skipped out on too many days, so he wouldn't have to deal with the shitty nerd's presence anymore.

Deku was nothing more than a mere stepping stone for him anyway.


	24. Heroic Healer Chapter Two

Izuku was having a good day. Then again, he had been having nothing _but_ good days since he came clean about the apprenticeship and his status had been upgraded to full intern with Recovery Girl six months later. The agencies that dealt with issuing pro hero licenses had made an agreement with Nezu, upon learning Izuku was more likely to spend time inside a hospital or outside the actual battlezone to patch up pro heroes than fight villains. He had to graduate from UA from one of the pro hero classes, and he would get a full hero license.

While his relationship with his mother had become slightly strained, she was honestly happy for him because his dream was that much closer to becoming true.

The only catch was that he had to wait a few years since Nezu didn't want to enroll him as a 'student' for the pro hero courses until he was at least fifteen. There would be enough friction from a _quirkless_ student technically being part of the Hero classes, and he didn't want to compound it due to Izuku being younger than everyone.

Besides, this allowed Izuku to complete the necessary real-world experience needed for a full medical license. He didn't really care either way so long as he was allowed to become a pro hero officially.

Hearing a commotion, he naturally went to see what was going on. Since he had an 'intern license' with Recovery Girl, he could legitimately intervene in a villain fight without getting yelled at for it later.

Seeing a familiar head of blond hair, he had to stare for a moment before his mind registered exactly what was going on.

Without thinking twice about it, he dashed forward and kicked Bakugo so hard that he was sent flying out of the living slime. Obviously it was a villain who was planning to use Bakugo as a hostage, but from the looks of things the villain clearly wasn't all that concerned about keeping the idiot alive.

With the ease of long practice, he pulled out something he kept handy ever since Power Loader brought that crazy girl into the support classes a bit early.

He doused both the villain and Bakugo with roughly the entire contents of the fire extinguisher he had on him...causing the slime to stiffen up enough that the heroes could deal with him _and_ insuring Bakugo was too cold to produce enough sweat to attack him for the kick.

It was only once the shock wore off (roughly three minutes after he arrived) that the pro heroes snapped out of it long enough to yell at him for interfering.

The glare he gave them could have frozen water, it was that bad.

He merely flashed his intern badge before leaving his statement with the heroes waiting outside the area, and headed to UA. He had some irritation to work off.

* * *

_A few days later..._

Izuku was rather curious as to why the principal called him in specifically. Outside of general paperwork, testing and the odd chess game, he rarely had an interaction with Nezu. Though he knew the chimera was actually rather fond of him.

Seeing a skeletal man inside, he knew something big was up.

"Ah, Midoriya-kun...come in, come in!" said Nezu cheerfully. "Tea?"

"Yes please," said Izuku calmly. If the principal was bringing out his Earl Gray, then the discussion couldn't be that bad. He usually brought out the _really_ good stuff for major discussion.

Once they were all settled, Nezu went directly to why he had called Izuku in.

"I want you to meet Yagi-san. He's going to be in charge of the mock hero/villain battles next year," said Nezu. "Yagi-san, this is Midoriya Izuku. He's the unofficial teacher's aide for the school, as well as Chiyo-sensei's personal intern. He will be your supervisor during the mock battles."

"Supervisor?" repeated Yagi in surprise. "I thought he was being slated for the pro hero class next year."

"Despite your impressive track record as a pro hero, the simple fact is that you have no real experience teaching students...much less hormonal teenagers," said Nezu bluntly. "Izuku however has at least two years of interning with Recovery Girl and is mostly working towards a provisional pro hero license. We're mostly sending him to 1-A next year to help socialize him a bit more, since he won't actually be studying with them full time. It would be rather silly to stick a fifteen year old who has successfully gained a medical license with teenagers who are just starting their journey to pro hero."

Yagi stared at Izuku.

"You have an actual medical license?"

"Passing the written exams with a high enough score was easy, but I needed three years of real world experience before I could legitimately call myself a doctor. Fortunately apprenticeships are still acceptable to the medical community, and as long as I know what I'm doing it's all legal. The hero license was the only issue, because you have to be at least eighteen to obtain one," said Izuku shrugging. "I have at least three patents to certain medications I've created, and one of them is about to be mass produced for the public."

"Very impressive!"

"Not really. All I did was come up with an additive for commercial eye drops. Once the people who regulate new medicines clear it for public use, it's going to be an optional prescription for those who have eye-based quirks," said Izuku.

Which was the ONLY reason it was being used for human trials in less than five years. However the fact a kid who hadn't even hit _puberty_ came up with it was enough to get people's attention.

"Now about the reason I called you both here. Izuku, I want you to act as the primary teacher's aide for Yagi-san's villain versus hero lessons."

"The one where the class is divided into two groups and pitted against each other in mock simulations against villains?" asked Izuku. Nezu nodded. "I had wondered why the primary teacher for that class was removed from the first year roster."

"Principal, I thought young Midoriya is going to be a student?"

"Ah, but his case is rather unique. Midoriya will be attending the hero lessons this year as a participant...however his status is that of an apprentice to Chiyo-sensei. The hero classes are more of a formality and to prepare him for his provisional license upon graduation," said Nezu.

"Provisional license?" repeated Yagi incredulous. He didn't know there was such a thing.

"I'm quirkless. Since the administration refuses to allow those without quirks to apply for a hero license, the best someone like me could do is a provisional license that allows me into active villain fights," explained Izuku. "Only certain professions can get them, and I chose doctor because then I could actively _help_ people much like All Might does. Not every hero has to have a flashy quirk to save others and make them smile like he does."

It would only be a little while later that Izuku learned why Nezu looked like he was desperately trying hard NOT to laugh his ass off about something, or why Yagi seemed to be embarrassed/happy at Izuku's words.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Yagi nervously.

"You're here to find a successor, and this way the staff will be more at ease knowing the class is in good hands. While your track record as a hero is rather impressive, the simple fact is you've never taught teenagers before. On the other hand, Izuku has already proven invaluable as a teacher's aide to the others and knows what to expect in your class. He's mostly there to insure nothing goes wrong with your class, since he's qualified as a field medic."

"I also help with grading, since the hero classes don't really have written work," said Izuku.

Yagi was clearly unsure about having a helper, but agreed to it. After all, if what the principal said was true, then the boy had experience.

Besides, he vividly remembered the teen's reaction to the slime villain and how he rescued the hostage while the actual pro heroes just stood there.

* * *

_Several months later..._

Izuku adjusted his 'hero' costume as Mei had dubbed it. He wore a professional doctor's coat, along with a rather smart suit his mother insisted he wear to look more professional. Around his waist was one of Mei's creations, and it reminded him strongly of the bat-based vigilante from pre-quirk comics, only his buckle (which was interchangeable) looked like a gear instead of a bat. He also had a near indestructible field medic's kit courtesy of Power Loader.

Mei was still working on the satchel that he had come up with while during one of their many movie nights. The girl was thrilled to have a fellow fan of the pre-quirk stuff, and Inko wouldn't be surprised in the least if her son ended up dating her.

He finished it off with comfortable boots...most doctors were on their feet all day, so there was no point wearing fancy shoes that would only serve to cause pain. Besides, these were special as they contained hero gear that was still under development.

He checked to make sure his appearance was good, before slipping on the final touch...a card that would allow him to bypass the security system at school and clearly marked him as a teacher's aide at UA.

"Mom, I'm heading off!"

"Have a good day!" said Inko.

Their relationship was still slightly strained, but once the initial shock wore off and she realized her son was serious about his new profession, she supported him fully.

Today was going to be an interesting day.

_At UA, during the first class..._

Aizawa wasn't the least bit impressed with his current class. Particularly since he was unlucky enough to get the blowhard known as Bakugo Katsuki.

He had seen the scarring on his favorite assistant, and he knew this brat was the cause of most of them. He might have been able to fool the therapists, but there was no doubt the brat's ego was still out of control.

The second Izuku found out the boy was in 1-A, he had immediately demanded that he be allowed to carry the portable fire extinguisher Mei had created for rescue heroes so that he could douse Bakugo with the freezing cold foam before he could use his quirk.

Izuku had become rather quick to fire that foam, and he knew exactly what Bakugo was like. The second the brat found out Izuku outranked him and was merely killing time until he reached the mandatory age before he gained a hero's license, he would almost certainly snap.

Everyone was quickly seated, and right on time Izuku walked in.

The student's eyes were immediately on him.

"If you survive your first day here, then you'll get to know this person well. His name is Midoriya Izuku and he's the apprentice to Recovery Girl in the infirmary. In between healing the students, he acts as the primary teacher's aide to the staff. He'll be assisting in the mock hero and villain battles you'll have tomorrow."

One of the more straight laced teens raised his hand.

"Sir, how old is Midoriya-san?" asked Iida, not really noticing the fact that one of the students near the front was already starting to boil over in shock and recognition.

"I'm the same age as you," said Izuku with some amusement. "In fact I used to attend school with one of your peers in this classroom before I secured an apprenticeship."

Izuku calmly turned to the angry blond who was starting to get over his shock and was already showing several signs of blowing up.

Right before Bakugo's boiling point reached critical, Izuku calmly and with no little amount of dark glee sprayed him with the foam.

Disbelief filled the room, as Bakugo started swearing.

"You fucking nerd! How the hell did you get into UA before me?!" snarled Bakugo.

"I not only beat you to UA, _Kaachan_, but I actually outrank you here. You're just a student," said Izuku with dark glee. "Oh, and before you get any ideas that I'll be your punching bag again, the principal has made it clear that any more of your bad behavior from before will not be tolerated in the least. Either keep your ego in check and learn to behave or find a new school to apply to. Though I sincerely doubt any hero school will take you if they find out why you were thrown out."

Bakugo was livid, and the rest of the class had a sudden epiphany as to which student the TA had gone to school with.

"Wait, what do you mean if we survive the first day?!" said one student, having finally caught Aizawa's warning.

Izuku had a look of amusement on his face.

"Didn't you know? 1-A's teacher is rather infamous for throwing out entire classes if they don't prove they have the right mindset for hero work. If you're here for fame, glory and the money, you better start praying now. For those of you who actually do have it in you to be a great pro hero, well you couldn't ask for a better teacher."

Seeing the expression of foreboding in their eyes, Izuku had to repress a cackle. There was a reason he was tea-buddies with the principal after all, and it had little to do with the fact Nezu found him fascinating.

The chimera had found the perfect outlet for his sadistic tendencies, since he couldn't get away with it as much as he liked. Having Izuku show up the regular students with the flashy quirks was a source of great enjoyment to him.

Especially when said students found out they were one-upped by a _quirkless_ apprentice!

Bakugo was beyond livid...especially when he realized that the situation between him and the fucking nerd had been reversed. Not only did Izuku have power over him, but it was sanctioned by the teachers!

Every time he even thought of using his quirk, that damn Deku would douse him in that cold foam, cutting off the necessary heat to produce his special sweat! The only good thing was that they passed whatever requirement was needed to please the stupid teacher, but that was the only positive in his shitty day.

He stormed home with a pissed off expression and nearly blew up at his mother who innocently asked how his first day had gone.


	25. Sword of a Hero Chapter One

He looked up at the rapidly fading figure of a man he admired once. Now that man was their jailer, and as much as he wanted to deny it, he knew that things had irrevocably changed.

Izuku Midoriya was now trapped in a death game where the players would die if their character did. He had loved the idea of Sword Art Online simply because one of the first things it mentioned on the Beta was that quirks and magic didn't exist. It was a place where one had to survive and win with their actual ability and none of the 'cheats' that came with certain quirks, like Bakugo's explosive sweat.

It had become his safe haven, and thanks to a last minute quest he was the only one who would be playing the game with a buffer...namely the fact that while his level went back to one, he had been allowed to keep the stats he gained from the Beta test and one set of equipment.

That quest had been brutal, and in the end he was the only one to pass it before the time limit ran out and that only by the skin of his teeth.

Izuku...or rather "Galahad" according to his username...looked at how everyone freaked out and made an executive decision.

Namely he did _not_ want to be on the receiving end of Bakugo when the shock wore off and he realized Izuku was also in the game. He had to deal with that pain in the ass all day at school, he didn't want to deal with him in the once place they were forced to be equals.

Besides, Izuku remembered a rumor he heard about the game that Kayaba had hinted at when asked by fans. Namely that if someone were to get a trio of stats up to a certain point, that they could unlock an extremely rare class in the game. The problem was that it involved an ungodly amount of grinding, tracking down obscure quests that drove people nuts, and of course the headache of having to find a blacksmith of high enough skill to make the customized equipment.

In short it was a lot of effort for a job class, but considering they were trapped here Izuku saw no reason not to try his luck. Besides, one of the perks that came with pulling it off was the ability to dual-wield swords, which was a major advantage.

* * *

Kirito looked around in dismay when he realized everyone was already friends with others in the stadium, and the number of potential 'free agents' was dwindling fast.

Fortunately his eyes landed on the two people who hadn't already grouped up. A boy a few years younger than him with naturally green hair and eyes, and a cloaked person who had the figure of a girl.

The kid noticed him first, and Kirito mentally pegged him as one of the few serious players. Mainly because he recognized the username from the beta.

"Nice to see you again, Galahad."

"Hey Kirito," said Galahad cheerfully.

Galahad was one of the few people who could break down a monster's weaknesses in five minutes or less and the only _other_ person in Beta who had made it to the eighth level solo besides Kirito.

The two of them were somewhat good friends, which was why Kirito was privy to a secret...Galahad was quirkless in real life, and threw himself into playing SAO because it was one of the major appeals of the game was that quirks and magic were nonexistent. Here, he could be equal to the other players and not have to deal with their condescending attitudes.

He had no idea the kid had gotten stuck in the game as well, and wasn't surprised when the first thing Galahad did was add him to the friend's list.

The trio of Asuna, Kirito and Galahad made up the back of the group.

"So...you two know each other?" asked Asuna.

"Galahad was the only other beta tester who made it as far as I did. I've never seen anyone break down a monster's strengths and weaknesses so fast," said Kirito. Galahad blushed at the praise.

One of the groups ahead made some sort of snide remark about quirkless people, causing Galahad to shoot a dark look at some arrogant blond.

Kirito wondered if that kid was the asshole known as Bakugo who harassed his friend in the real world. He certainly fit the limited description Galahad had given him.

"What are the odds that Kayaba decided to screw with the players and change out Ilfang's sword from the beta?" asked Galahad suddenly.

Kirito paused, thought that one over, then paled.

"...Should we warn the forward group?" asked Asuna tentatively.

"I'm on it," said Kirito.

Kirito went up to the front of the group and headed straight to Diabel.

"Having second thoughts?" he joked.

"No, but someone pointed out that if Kayaba was a sadist enough to trap us _in_ this damn game there's a chance he also changed the secondary weapon of the boss just to screw with us," said Kirito.

"Bullshit! How do we know the beta testers didn't lie about that as well?"

Kirito remembered a comment Galahad made about the red head's behavior and gave him a glare.

"Will you stop acting like a spoiled brat who's mad that some other kid has the better toys?" he snapped. "This is serious! If there's a chance Kayaba switched out the secondary weapon it would almost certainly cause problems when he switches them out!"

Diabel, who had actually been part of the beta group, was rather pale.

"You have a point. If he's cunning enough to trap us in here, then it's just as possible he changed the weapon to make us doubt the information in the guide book."

Now warned, Kirito went back to his group, and he partially ignored the red head's dark glare at him.

Galahad was right, that guy was a spoiled brat who had his head up his ass. He was just looking for someone else he could blame for his own problems and inherent laziness.

It was as the raid was entering the final moments that it happened. Ilfang switched out his gear, and as Galahad suspected, Kayaba was dick enough to change the weapons. Instead of a talwar, it was a no-dachi, which had longer reach.

Diabel, forewarned ahead of time that this might be the case, barely managed to jump back enough to stop from being run through.

That was Kirito, Asuna and Galahad's time to shine.

Kirito, having superior sword skills compared to Galahad, made the last blow.

"That...was a monumental pain in the ass," said Galahad.

"Agreed," said Kirito.

It was then that a certain someone, whom Galahad had been avoiding the second this game became life or death, took notice that Galahad was in the game.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing _here_, shitty Deku?" snarled Bakugo, or rather "Nitroburst".

Rather than answer him, Galahad got up and started walking towards the stairs.

"Answer me, shitty Deku!"

He continued to ignore him, which really pissed Nitroburst off.

Bakugo went to force matter, only to lose a major chunk of his health and began coughing.

"My _name_..." he stressed, "Is Galahad. Deku doesn't exist anymore."

In this world, he couldn't afford to be the quiet, submissive Deku. Being pushed around was tantamount to being used as cannon fodder and killed off while being used as bait.

Besides, he had already noticed a disturbing trend among the players. Namely the fact that among those dead before the boss was taken out, over fifty of them had been quirkless. He had quietly investigated the issue and discovered some of the players were using those without quirks outside the game as cannon fodder.

If he was right, then he might have to...deal...with those bastards sooner rather than later.

Kirito grinned at him as they ascended the stairs.

"That was pretty badass."

Galahad smiled, embarrassed. It was the bravest thing he had ever done, though he knew that ass Bakugo would be out for blood now.

However the two develop a silent camaraderie and Galahad is proud to say he's the first person to be added to Kirito's friend's list.

Whenever the black-haired swordsman found an interesting quest that would benefit them both, his first choice was to let Galahad know so they could spend time in a snarking contest.

Seriously, Kirito had some of the best witty comebacks Galahad had ever heard and Galahad was more than happy to let his hidden wit come out to play.

It was incredibly freeing, being trapped in a world where everyone was forced to start out on an equal playing field and where hard work was actually _worth_ something beyond general bragging rights.

_Three months later..._

Galahad was at Kirito's side the _second_ he heard that the Moonlit Black Cats had dissolved due to the fact that Kirito was the only surviving member. Klein had been dubious about the almost thirteen year old in the game, but it had become clear that the boy was a lot more mature than he looked.

Klein was right to be worried about Kirito. He was on the verge of breaking down from the fact his friends were gone because he had gotten careless. That the only surviving member had killed himself upon learning Kirito had been hiding his true nature the entire time.

Galahad hugged Kirito close and stayed with him for the next month. It was only after Christmas that Kirito fully came out of his funk, due to a final message from a girl he had gotten close to.

* * *

Argo was grinning when she spotted Kirito.

"Guess who's gotten a really fun title recently."

Kirito sent some col over to Argo.

"What did he do now?" he asked.

Argo sent him the file. Kirito took one look at it and started laughing.

Galahad had been 'upgraded' after taking over a particularly forested safe zone to "Elven King Galahad". Likely because he had finally managed to unlock the 'archery' skill and had gotten his hands on a sword-bow combo called Laevantein.

Kirito grinned as he saw the image of Galahad with two light curved swords on his back and a loop of odd string attached to a small bauble on his wrist. He played the short video and you could see Galahad taking the hilts of both swords and merging them into a rather odd bow, before pulling some of the string out and attaching it to the holes in the tip of each sword. After that it was a one-sided slaughter as Galahad basically sniped the monsters from a high vantage point before the other players could get near the things, thoroughly pissing off a certain red eyed blond.

Considering his appearance and the fact that elves were known to be good archers, it was little wonder his friend had earned the title "Elven king". He was one of the strongest players in the game, and he preferred to work solo.

Kirito knew that many speculated what his quirk was in real life, though none would ever guess his friend was quirkless.

He made a point of tracking Galahad down to laugh at him.

What he found made it hard for him to breathe, if only for the befuddled expression on Galahad's face and the amused one on the two 'receptionists'.

"How the hell did you end up leader of a guild called 'Imraldis'?" he asked, laughing.

Kirito was a fantasy fan, so he was perfectly aware that Rivendell was called a different name in Elvish.

Galahad mock glared at the two unrepentant little girls.

"Blame these two. Kirito, meet Eri and Yui," said Galahad, patting each respective girl on the head when he introduced them.

Eri looked really young...too young to be in the game. She couldn't be older than three or four years old at the most, and that was pushing it. She had lightcolored hair, red eyes and had one of the rare obvious quirks in the game...a horn on her head. Only physical quirks were ever translated into the game, and even then they were more like extra limbs at best. Any special ability was nixed the second they logged in. She wore a light dress and was an obvious non-combatant.

Yui was a bit older, but still younger than either Kirito or Galahad. She looked about seven or eight, and had waist length dark grey hair and a bright smile on her face. She had a small dagger at her side and a light armor.

However Kirito knew damn well Galahad would never dare allow such young children out in the combat zones.

"So how did you two rope your big brother into making a guild?"

"It was easy!" said Yui with a chipper voice.

"It was like signing an iTunes agreement," deadpanned Galahad. "I had no idea what the hell I was agreeing to, but I did it to shut up the incessant pop-ups."

Kirito cackled.

Once he was done laughing at Galahad's expense, he had to ask.

"So...any room in this guild for one more?"

Galahad stared...he knew Kirito was a solo player by preference, as his stint with the Moonlit Black Cats ended rather traumatically.

"You sure about this?"

"Do you have _any_ idea how annoying it is dealing with recruiters from the Knights of the Blood Oath?" said Kirito flatly. "At least with you, I know exactly what I'm getting into and I know that if I have to be partnered with anyone you're likely to be the one who has my back."

Which was true...Galahad wouldn't inflict a complete noob on his friend.

Kirito was rather pleased when he saw the invite pop up on his end, and hit accept without a second thought. He had to grin when he saw he was immediately elevated to "second in command" of the Imraldis guild.


	26. Sword of a Hero Chapter Two

"You know there's one thing I really don't get," said Kirito. They were celebrating Eri's fifth birthday and were currently enjoying some after-party drinks while Eri came down off her sugar high. Not that it was a real one, but it was pretty damn close.

"What's that?" asked Galahad, carefully undoing the braids in Yui's hair so it wasn't a pain to brush later.

"Why exactly is someone as young as Eri in the game to begin with? I mean she's literally the _only_ player in SAO that's under the age of seven," said Kirito.

Galahad blinked.

"You know that's actually a really good question," he admitted.

Kirito put Eri on his lap, and she seemed to calm down a tad.

"Eri, why did your parents let you play this game?" he asked.

Eri went from sugar high to scared in two seconds.

"The bad men put me in the game. They said I would be in a nice dream for a while," she said quietly.

That got their full attention.

"Bad men?" repeated Kirito.

Eri nodded.

"The bad man who said he was my daddy said that my quirk was really special. So special they couldn't risk me being found by the heroes. So they found a man who made a special game that would let me travel the world without actually leaving them," said Eri.

Galahad and Kirito exchanged alarmed looks. It sounded like Eri was in the hands of _villains_, and that there was a far more sinister reason for why she was in the game to begin with. They had always assumed she had put on the helmet by accident, but this was starting to feel like she was deliberately put in this death game to keep her docile.

"I know why Eri was put in the game," said Yui quietly.

Everyone looked at her. She was unusual sombre for her normal cheerful self.

"You know the reason, Yui-chan?" said Galahad concerned.

"Kayaba borrowed money from a villain group to get SAO online, because his original investors were angry it took so long to get up and running. But in exchange he had to run a certain experiment for them. When Eri's quirk manifested, adding her as a player in the game became one of the conditions because they needed her blood, but not necessarily the girl herself," said Yui unhappily.

"How do you know about this, Yui?" asked Kirito.

"Because...the reason it took so long for Kayaba to get SAO online is due to me."

"What?" said Galahad.

"SAO isn't_ just_ a game. Kayaba designed it to do something most considered impossible...he wanted to create a true artificial intelligence that wouldn't suddenly turn on it's creator. One that could pass for human even in the real world," said Yui.

Galahad was the first to get it.

"You're the person Kayaba wanted to make real, like Pinocchio," he guessed.

Yui was silent, but she quietly nodded. She wanted to see how Galahad, Kirito and Eri would react to the fact she was just a digital entity created by the madman who trapped them in the game.

So you could imagine her shock when Galahad hugged her tighter.

"I don't care what that jerk Kayaba did. You're still my little Yui," said Galahad firmly.

"Yeah, if anyone outside asks us, you're just a girl with a rare quirk that allows you to bypass the Nervegear...but because of that you lost your body since the doctors mistook you for dead," said Kirito.

It wouldn't be the first time an unusual quirk had resulted in someone being mistaken for dead and end up dying for real. It was extremely rare, but it did happen.

Yui could feel the tears well up in her eyes.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah... We won't be stuck in this game forever, but eventually we'll get out. And when we do, I'll try to find a way to give you a real body Yui," said Galahad.

"Is there any way you could attach yourself to our Nervegear?" asked Kirito. "That way when the servers disappear you'll still be here with us."

Yui and Eri were like his nieces, and Kirito would never forgive himself if Yui vanished when SAO was finally taken offline.

Yui perked up.

"Actually, there is. But it might cause a slight lag if I only upload myself to _one_ of them."

Lag could mean the difference between life or death.

"What about if you attached yourself to both of ours?" asked Galahad.

"And mine!" chirped Eri. She liked big sister Yui.

Yui did some calculations...made faster by the fact she was an AI and had been leveling her intelligence stat with regularity...and beamed at them all.

"If I were to split my main data between the three Nervegear, there won't be any lag. And it means that each one could act as a back-up in case something awful happens."

What Yui _didn't_ tell them was that SAO was just the testing ground for a far more deadly plan that would be instigated if no one was made aware that the 'bug' in SAO had been planned in advance to kill off people with quirks.

SAO was just a testing ground for the bug that killed players when their avatars died in the game. The people who put Eri in the game were part of the remnants of the Yakuza and were angry that quirks had ruined what they thought was a good thing. They wanted to 'fix' the world and bring their own group back to their former glory by eradicating them.

Kayaba had only agreed because he was a sociopath who didn't really care about the players to begin with. Then again, he was a programmer and there was only so much nonsense one could put up with before they developed an apathy towards the players in general.

Besides, the bug wasn't even _his_ creation to begin with.

Though the only reason Yui knew about all this was because the people who put Eri into the death game had left their servers unprotected from intrusions _inside_ their own wireless network.

After Yui developed an attachment to the girl, and happened to know about her full situation, she had gone looking into the creeps who held her little sister hostage.

They didn't know it, but the protective AI had full access to their _entire_ network at this point and could expose them whenever she wanted. And there would be no way to stop her since she could evolve faster than they could program.

* * *

It was a little known fact, but the players _could_ access the outside world if they were inclined. It was just that most didn't realize this fact, or they pissed off Kayaba by attempting to log out of the game by trying to exploit some sort of weakness in the one link to the outside world he permitted.

Kirito used it to stay in contact with his sister and mother. He left them letters every so often through the private forum he made just for the family to use, so they knew he was alright. Galahad did much the same, but went a step further by continuing his education.

Thanks to the wonders of online courses, the fact they could convert col into real world money (at a ridiculous reverse exchange rate) to buy actual _books_, and the fact that increasing one's intelligence stat in the game also applied to the real world (not that anyone had figured this out yet)...Galahad had already finished his middle school _and_ high school years and was already working towards a law degree out of sheer boredom and to really get back at the jerks who thought being quirkless made you powerless as well.

And, thanks to help from Yui who kept track of the stock markets, Galahad, Kirito and Eri now owned large amounts of very expensive stock in the company that had taken over the SAO servers.

Yui found playing around with the stock market 'fun' and was already earning a name for herself as one of the major players. Though there had been that awkward incident when someone tried to accuse her of insider trading, when in reality she had simply applied common sense, past market history and her ever growing knowledge of human behavior regarding economics and bartering.

She also might have hacked into a few servers belonging to whatever company caught her interest to see how far along their research _actually_ was and whether they were spending their money properly.

Galahad only asked that she not get caught or in trouble with the white-collar hero groups. Other than that, he told her to have fun.

* * *

"So explain to me again how exactly my bank account went from a measly ten thousand yen to suddenly having _millions_?" said Kirito, twitching.

His mother had been shocked when she discovered that her son's account had been very active of late, and that instead of losing money he seemed to be making it hand over fist in large amounts. Or someone was and using his account to hold it.

"Yui," said Galahad.

"What does my niece have to do with the sudden influx in my accounts?" he asked baffled.

He considered Galahad a brother in all but blood at this point, and Galahad had more or less adopted Yui and Eri as his daughters (though considering the age difference most mistook them for a doting older brother and his two younger sisters). Which made the two his nieces.

"Yui managed to somehow access Kayaba's frozen accounts, or one that the authorities hadn't seized to pay back the dead players of SAO, and has been playing around the stock market with it out of boredom," said Galahad.

"...Are you serious?" said Kirito.

"Either that or she's been stealing money from the jerks who put Eri in the game and has been laundering it through the stock market. I haven't been able to figure out which, but she's been paying for most of my books and college tuition with it," admitted Galahad.

"You're not even fifteen and you're already taking college classes?" said Kirito incredulous.

"The intelligence stat also applies to the real world, and thanks to the one outlet Kayaba has for those who aren't part of the active Assault team, I've already finished high school," said Galahad amused.

Kirito's face twitched.

"Seriously?"

"There's a reason I've been dumping my spare stat points into charisma and intelligence," deadpanned Galahad.

Kirito twitched, before he came to a decision.

"Tell Yui she has my full blessing to use the account, so long as it doesn't dip into the negatives," said Kirito.

He decided to start dumping his spare stats into intelligence as well, and finished high school within six months. At least his mother wouldn't have to worry about college later.

You could imagine Inko's shock when an actual _law degree_ showed up at her doorstep a year and a half after her son was trapped in the death game...and that Izuku had earned it in between trying to beat the game.

Kirito decided to change the subject.

"So what's this I hear about you going out on dates?" grinned Kirito.

"Whoever told you that is a dirty liar," said Galahad, blushing.

"So Yui wasn't telling me the truth when she said she saw you go out with a dressed up Liz on a date last Friday?"

Galahad was embarrassed as hell, but Kirito threw his arm around him in camaraderie.

"Relax dude, every guy goes through this at some point. So did Lisbeth ask you out or were you the one to ask her out?"

Galahad snorted.

"Well after _someone_ wrecked her second best sword, I decided to cheer her up. Besides, I know you and Asuna have been eyeing each other lately," he shot back.

Kirito blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do realize that Liz had a brief crush on you until she realized you were the one Asuna was wearing jewelry for, right?"

"Oh yeah, and what about the crush Silica has on you?"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who brought her pet dragon back and bravely captured the hag that was planning to kill her in front of her," Galahad shot back.

The two playfully bickered on the subject for several hours, and it only got worse when a passing Klein realized what they were talking about and had to join in with his 'sage' advice.

"Oh, what's this? Kirito and Galahad are actually dating someone?"

"At least we _have_ dates. When the last time you got laid old man?" Galahad was quick to say.

Kirito caught on to what he was doing, because he smirked wickedly.

"Yeah, Klein? When's the last time the forty-year-old virgin had a date?"

Klein sputtered.

"I'm not even thirty, you brats! And for your information I had a date last Thursday!"

"What was his name?" Galahad snarked.

"Her name was Tiffany."

Galahad looked at Kirito, his expression positively _evil_.

"Didn't Agil mention he sometimes plays as a _girl_ named Tiffany?"

Kirito nodded, his grin even wider with glee.

"And I know Kayaba had a temporary item that allows you to switch genders... it was a pain to get, but it still exists."

Klein's expression was horrified at the idea of going out on a date with Agil. He was a nice guy, but he was absolutely not gay.

"Why are you picking on me?" he complained.

"Convenient target and we're bored," said Galahad promptly. Kirito nodded in absolute agreement. "Then again I'm sure you have plenty of 'material' to work with, isn't that right, _BallsDeep69_?"

Klein's face was as red as a tomato that Galahad knew of his forum handle. He didn't know what was worse...being picked on by freaking teenagers or the fact he might have accidentally dated Agil thanks to a gender-switching item.


	27. Sword of a Hero Chapter Three

What might have been a minor detail soon became serious business after one of the best female players dropped out of her guild to join the one her boyfriend was in.

It wasn't against the rules to date people in other guilds, but Asuna was sick and tired of Nitroburst's crappy attitude and the fact Heathcliff _insisted_ that she pair up with him so often. If she had to hear one more bitchy whine about Galahad being so popular, strong and influential, she was going to kill that asshole herself!

It was only after she joined Imladris that she discovered the source of the blond's hatred of Galahad.

"In the real world we're classmates and he has a really impressive quirk. He's so used to having everyone praise him while belittling me that when the situation was forcibly reversed he couldn't handle it at all. Especially since he went from top dog to a player most people think is a joke," said Galahad.

"You're kidding," deadpanned Asuna.

"Our moms are friends," shrugged Galahad. "And his quirk allows him to produce nitroglycerin from his sweat, so the teachers and adults around us made him out to be a big deal who was a shoe-in if he went the pro-hero path. He doesn't even care about helping people, he's only in it for the money and the glory."

"Seriously?" said Asuna in disgust. Then again her own parents were major contributors to Endeavor, and that guy was a complete asshole.

She was so caught up in learning why Nitroburst was a jerk that she never thought to ask Galahad what his quirk was.

* * *

_A month later..._

It was big news around Aincrad. So much so that everyone stopped doing quests just so they could watch the epic duel between the two biggest guilds in the game.

With the loss of Asuna, the Knights of the Blood Oath were scrambling to make up for her skill level. The problem was that Asuna was one of their best heavy hitters and without her there, the others were barely able to complete quests that used to be easy.

She was still part of the Assault team, but the guild was suffering big time.

So you could imagine Galahad's surprise when Heathcliff made an offer to merge their two guilds to make up for the loss.

"Let me get this straight. You want _me_ to merge _my_ guild into yours because you want Asuna back. Despite the fact it's well known there is major bad history between me and Nitroburst," said Galahad flatly.

"I'm sure it's a minor misunderstanding you can work out," said Heathcliff. However his expression said he didn't give a damn what their issue was, he just wanted Asuna and if possible Kirito as well.

"Yeah, no. That's not going to happen."

"What about if I duel you over the matter?" said Heathcliff seriously.

Galahad looked at him incredulous.

"You want to _duel_ me over the fact Asuna chose to be with Kirito more often. Is this about that silly popularity poll they had?"

Imladris came ahead of the Knights, and little wonder. It hadn't helped that since Asuna had left, Nitroburst was their best member and he was a complete bastard to the other players.

Heathcliff's expression didn't change, but it was clear that the poll hadn't helped in the least.

"Let's say that we have this duel. What do I get if I win?"

"First crack at the new floor's quests and the agreement that the subject is never brought up again," said Heathcliff.

"Deal," said Galahad.

* * *

Everyone and their grandmother showed up for the duel. It was rare to see Galahad or Heathcliff going at it for real, as they usually kept their respective guilds running unless a big boss raid was due.

Yui, Eri, Kirito and Asuna had front seats to the show, though only Yui was aware of what Galahad had planned.

Yui had revealed a secret buff that only certain creatures...or in the case of Yui and Eri...had. Specifically the buff that insured they would never die in the game, and that their HP never reached zero no matter what attack was used.

She had also revealed that the buff could be exposed when certain conditions were met...even in safe zones.

Galahad had always been deeply suspicious of Heathcliff's "Divine Shield". It was an overpowered ability that would have made it ridiculously easy for him to go after the bosses solo and beat the game in a matter of months, and yet Kayaba had never once gone after him for it.

He could hide behind his status as guild master all he wanted...Galahad had never found any other creature in the game who had that particular ability.

It was one thing to work your ass off to earn an ability like he had. It was another to be blatantly cheating in a game like this and not be called out on it by the bastard monitoring it for such hacks. Even Yui, who was an integral part of the game, had to be very, very careful in what she did when she was actively hacking the programming to avoid letting her creator know what she was doing.

Galahad was armed in his best gear, while Heathcliff wore his usual fair. It was clear he wasn't taking this duel seriously and wanted to get it over so he could reclaim Asuna.

"Last chance to back out," said Heathcliff.

Galahad rolled his eyes. He had a little surprise and if nothing else he wanted to make sure Heathcliff's reputation took a major hit.

As the two exchanged blows, Galahad kept close eye on Heathcliff's health bar.

The moment it was about to turn red, the damage stopped coming. It was the source of Heathcliff's infamous "Divine Shield" title.

That was when he struck. Unknown to Heathcliff, he had borrowed one of Yui's daggers and had coated it with the most lethal poison to be found in the game so far. It was infamous among the players as something to be avoided at all costs, because it automatically dropped a player into the red within five seconds or less depending on what their level was. It killed in ten unless you teleported fast enough to the nearest town with a crystal.

It was more dangerous than the boss levels, and was called the "Party Killer" because if the one who teleported was carrying anything vital...like health crystals for instance...then there was a strong chance it would kill everyone else in the party.

As a result, most players avoided any area that monster showed up in like the plague.

Galahad happened to get his hands on it at one point during a quest, and one of the rare few who had slain the beast before it could poison him. The vial he had was part of the loot and he had never told anyone he had it.

Without any hesitation...mostly because since they were in a safe zone this wouldn't actually _kill_ him...Galahad drove the hidden dagger into Heathcliff's heart.

Heathcliff, so assured of his defense, never bothered to dodge properly.

And that's when Galahad saw it.

The light purple hexagon that he recognized from the time Yui had demonstrated her own defense. The one that read clear as day, "Immortal Object".

Despite being poisoned, Heathcliff's health never dipped below red. Even with the hit he had taken, it was still yellow.

There was no way Kayaba would allow something as overpowered as this to exist...not unless...

Galahad's expression turned furious, and he backed away like he was going to use his arrows.

In reality he was planning to broadcast this to _everyone_ in the stadium. Yui saw his message and made very sure every player in the game heard her Daddy's words.

"You know there's something I've been wanting to say for a while now, but never actually thought I'd get the chance to do it in person."

"What's that?" said Heathcliff, amused.

"Fuck you Kayaba, and fuck the horse you rode in on. Do you have _any _idea how much it pissed me off when I realized I was trapped in a game full of assholes who think having a quirk gives them every right to use quirkless players as cannon fodder to save their own ass? Do you have _any_ clue how many Player Killers I've had to deal with because you trapped us in this damn game?!"

Dead silence.

Heathcliff didn't show it outwardly, but he grew nervous.

"What are you talking about?"

Galahad glared at him.

"Really, you arrogant asshole? You honestly believed no one would see through that fake character you made to hide among the trapped players?"

People were starting to talk now, most were confused, but a few...namely Kirito and a few others who had high enough intelligence stats...were starting to cotton on to what Galahad had figured out.

"What are you insinuating?" demanded Heathcliff, hoping to deflect the obvious truth.

"Drop the act. There's no way Kayaba would dare allow a player with a defense capable of taking the Player Killer poison head-on without any damage whatsoever. _Especially_ since this is a safe zone. Either you've been hacking your own player, or...and this is far more likely considering how strictly he's been monitoring the game so far...you're actually Kayaba pretending to be a player only to show up at the last level and act as the final boss just to be a dick about it."

Dead silence.

"How exactly would you even get a vial of Player Killer poison without being killed?" said Heathcliff.

"I had auto loot on and sniped the monster for a quest," deadpanned Galahad. "It was before people knew how dangerous that particular area was or how difficult it was to kill it."

Considering this was the Elven King Galahad, and auto loot did work within a certain area limit, everyone believed him.

"You seriously used a poison like that in a duel?"

"I always suspected something was off about that Divine Shield of yours. With a buff like that you could take on bosses solo, and yet not once did the moderator permanently remove you from the game or punish you for it," Galahad pointed out. "Seeing the notification for 'immortal object' just solidified my suspicions."

In spite of himself, Heathcliff...or rather Kayaba, was impressed. He honestly didn't think anyone would figure out the flaws of his so-called 'buff' and bring it to the obvious conclusion.

He could see the shock and disbelief on the player's faces, mostly due to the fact he wasn't _denying_ the accusation he was Kayaba.

Kayaba let out a chuckle that turned into a dark laugh.

"I must admit, I am impressed. I honestly did not expect anyone to see through my so called 'buff' and realize the truth this early."

While shock filtered through the stands and outside the stadium, one player had only visions of glory in his head.

To be fair, he never liked his shitty guild leader anyway, and if he succeeded he'd become a hero before that damn Deku could completely steal his moment. He had stolen enough of his glory as it was.

"DIE KAYABA!" shouted Bakugo, attempting to assassinate the man who had trapped them there for two years.

"Really kid? You think I wouldn't see that coming with your _winning_ personality?" deadpanned Kayaba. Bakugo found himself face-planting the ground with a paralysis effect.

Galahad couldn't help it, he started cackling.

"Oh gods, that is totally worth being trapped in this game for two years!" he said, howling.

Seriously, seeing Bakugo so utterly fail at defeating a villain after having to deal with this death game for two years? He was sincerely hoping that Yui was recording this shit to his NerveGear so he could savor it for years to come. He grinned when she discreetly gave him a thumbs up on that regard.

He had made no bones of his dislike of "Nitroburst" and had explained in graphic detail to Yui why he was unlikely to get along with the volatile teen. Even Kirito could get why he hated Bakugo.

"You see, this is just a tiny microcosm of the past two years. This fucking mastermind sees you try almost that exact same thing to no effect. Then by some HERCULEAN leap in logic that we mere mortals will never comprehend, thinks it'll succeed if _he_ does it!" said Kayaba irate.

"To be fair, Bakugo was probably trying to kill you himself before I had a chance to since I've been showing him up ever since we were trapped in here," said Galahad cheerfully.

Don't get him wrong, he was still pissed at Kayaba, but he would at least give the bastard a quick death instead of a slow drawn out one for humiliating the explosive blond so utterly.

"Now I trust that the rest of you good people have enough pattern recognition not to follow in this fool's footsteps. Oh wait, no, that's goldfish! I'm thinking of goldfish!" said Kayaba, before he exerted his powers as the game master. "Yeah, better play it safe."

And with that, every player on that floor was paralyzed.

"Okay that, that was a good move," admitted Galahad, barely staying upright through sheer force of will. Bakugo growled, and Galahad snorted. "It's your own damn fault you're face down on the ground, _Kacchan. _Maybe next time think with your damn head instead of your ego!"

"Now that I have your ears as well as your spines, let me indulge myself for a moment and tell you what every content creator has always wanted to say to their audience."

Galahad grinned, as he knew this would be good.

"_Fuck all y'all!_ Do you have _any_ idea what it's been like to try and lead you people?! You ignore all of my strategies, you ADAMANTLY refuse to work together, and then you blame ME FOR ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!"

One brave soul decided to add his two cents.

"Well to be fair, you are responsible for a few of them."

"Fair, but counter point..." said Kayaba, and you could hear the poor idiot who dared to make that comment die... "You're DEAD. HA."

Galahad snickered. Perhaps it was his twisted sense of humor or the fact that it was all coming to a head, but he found this hilarious for reasons he couldn't explain.

"You're the one who told us to _beat_ an MMO," he shot back, he couldn't resist. "Well honestly, when was the last time you heard of someone beating **Everquest**?"

Kayaba shot him an annoyed look.

"When was the last time you heard someone _playing_ **Everquest**?"

"...That's fair," said Galahad. "But in all seriousness here, do you really think _any_ of us would still be playing this game if we didn't have a gun to our heads? It was the only decent game out when suddenly _Tron_ became real!"

"Oh, so _now_ you've seen TRON!" said Kayaba irate.

"Kirito made us watch it when I asked about that ridiculous comment you made after trapping us here," Galahad shot back. "So what's the big plan now, tough guy? It's not like we'll agree to keep going now that I've exposed you."

"Well I have two options for you. One, everyone goes back to beating the game, or..."

"Or?"

"Or I let the three best players do their best to take down the final boss, I/E _me_ right here, right now."

"I think we'll take option two," deadpanned Galahad.

From the expression on Kayaba's face, he was getting sick of being trapped with them too.


	28. Positively Civil Chapter One

All men are not created equal. This was a fact he learned very early in life, and it was not something he was allowed to forget.

Staring at the hospital ceiling, Izuku Midoriya took stock of his life so far and came to some unhappy conclusions. Namely that the adults in his life had failed, rather spectacularly at that, at doing their job.

The problem was that he had no idea who to turn to for help in at least evening the odds, or better yet, insuring that the abuse and harassment would stop.

If he dropped out of school in favor of learning at home, it would feel too much like he was admitting defeat. And he _refused_ to let Bakugo be proven right and win.

What he would win was debatable, but it still felt that way.

When Izuku walked out of the hospital, his arm still broken and his concussion deemed 'safe' now that the danger period was over with, he hoped that the teachers would at least investigate what had sent him to the hospital. Or better yet, that his mother would demand proper explanation.

What he got was a stern chastisement to "be more careful" and how a "quirkless child is more easily hurt". The usual mocking his his hopes to join UA and become a hero were used against him, and he was told "not to rise above his station". Not that the teachers would _say_ as much, but it was obviously implied.

As long as he had the arm cast, Bakugo couldn't risk going after him directly. But his verbal abuse became twice as horrid, and it had only been _one_ day.

Izuku sat on a park bench, silently _seething_. It wasn't fair! Why did everyone target _him_ because he was quirkless and praise Bakugo for his ability, when it was so obvious that they were encouraging him to hurt others with his quirk?

He was sitting quietly when he heard a conversation that would change his life.

"So I heard Michiru sued the Pro Hero Endeavor...and actually got a really good settlement since they proved his quirk started the fire that burned her so badly."

"I can't believe he let it get that bad. You gotta admit, her lawyer must have some pretty strong guts if they were willing to go after the second best hero."

"More like it was a joint civil suit. Heroes like that are the _worst_, and the only time they listen to complaints from people like us is if a lawyer is involved," scoffed the first woman.

Izuku went home, making no sign he had overheard the conversation.

However it got him to thinking, mostly when he realized his mother was unwilling to investigate further about the harassment for fear of what she would find.

During the weekend, Izuku went looking for the closest lawyer that might be interested in his case.

It took him two hours, and he had to take a train for twenty minutes, but he was able to reach their office once he made a brief appointment.

The woman on the other end was willing to hear him out for free, but made no promises to actually take on his case.

Ms. Tenoh was a nice woman who could have passed for a man at first glance.

"So Mr. Midoriya, what exactly is it that you think my office can help you with?" she asked.

"I want to file a civil suit against my school and possibly one of my classmates," said Izuku flatly. He had steeled himself into at least trying, so there was no point backing down now.

"That's a pretty big order. May I ask why?"

"The teachers at the school do nothing about the harassment I've been getting from one of my classmates and are actively encouraging villainous behavior. I know for a _fact_ it's illegal to use quirks frivolously in public, but the students in my class are always showing theirs off without reprimand. I've even seen one of them use his to flip the skirts of some of the girls and no one has said anything beyond a general scolding."

She frowned.

"That's a pretty big allegation. Do you have any evidence?"

Izuku lifted his arm slightly.

"I was recently hospitalized with a concussion and a fractured arm, and the teachers wrote it off as an 'accident' because the one responsible has an impressive quirk and an almost guarantee of getting into UA later," said Izuku bitterly. "My own _mother_ didn't bother to delve deeper into why I was put into the hospital and if nothing is done he's more likely to become a villain than a hero."

"Right now I have nothing but hearsay and the possibility you're trying to sue a classmate over an accident. However, something tells me you're an honest kid, so here's what we're going to do," said Ms. Tenoh. "I'm going to give you a body cam to attach to your cast or something else you'd carry with you everywhere. I want you to record your daily interaction with the class for a week, then come back here so I can see exactly what we're dealing with."

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a dismissal either. At this point Izuku would take what he could get.

Ms. Tenoh showed him how to attach the camera to his cast, and it blended it well enough that it would go unnoticed by the rest of the class. She assured him that the camera was programmed to filter out bathrooms unless he deliberately turned it on to record audio.

* * *

_One week later..._

Haruka originally believed this was a schoolyard accident gone bad, and that the kid was overstating things because he felt the other party had gotten off too lightly.

Then she saw the video, and discovered that if anything, the kid was _understating_ how bad things were at the school. It was a complete _nightmare_, where the kids were using their quirks without regard for the law or who it was used on.

And the _worst_ instigator was the same person Midoriya wanted to file a second suit against on top of the school. From what she could tell the arrogant brat was the ringleader in this mess.

"Mr. Midoriya, I'd be happy to take your case," she said seriously.

It seemed to her that no one had been properly looking out for Izuku's rights as a person for quite some time. And she didn't believe that the fact he was 'quirkless' to be a real excuse for the sheer level of abuse and neglect she saw on the video.

For the next month, Izuku quietly worked with Ms. Tenoh on his case. Every day he went to school, he collected more evidence against his soon-to-be former classmates and teachers. Once his arm was healed they were going to do something rather drastic so that they could serve notice to all the parties involved that their behavior wasn't going to cut it anymore.

More importantly her plan to serve notice would also hopefully instill some self-confidence in her poor client. Years of verbal abuse and harassment had caused his self-esteem to drop to depressing levels. It was a miracle he had worked up the courage to come to her on his own with no input from his mother.

Haruka fully planned to introduce the kid to a boxing and mixed martial arts gym she frequented herself to blow off steam.

* * *

The day it happened was like any other. At least the students and teachers thought it would be.

Izuku's cast had come off a week ago and it was obvious that things were going to go back to exactly how things were before.

Which was why Izuku was going to forcibly change the dynamic in a particularly violent fashion.

Bakugo was reaching for Izuku's bag, likely to destroy another one of his hero analysis notebooks that he kept or any other his personal possessions, when Izuku acted. He remembered the instructions Ms. Tenoh told him, or more like _drilled_ into his head repeatedly.

He grabbed Bakugo's collar, and in a move that would leave everyone deeply shocked, slammed Bakugo's head onto the desk so hard it left him dazed. Then, before the blond could fully react, Izuku slammed his knee into Bakugo's gut, leaving him too winded to retaliate.

Stone cold shock filled the room. No one could believe _Izuku_ of all people would respond with such violence when he had been so submissive for all these years.

The teacher was the first to snap out of it. And his response was predictable.

"Detention! We will be calling your mother about this act of aggression, Mr. Midoriya!"

Izuku gave him a flat expression.

"Oh I'm looking _forward_ to it," he said ominously.

When he came home early, he explained exactly what he had done to his mother and made it clear he wasn't going to apologize for it one bit. He didn't care what it did with his nonexistent friendship with Bakugo, he was sick and tired of being treated like a punching bag simply because he didn't have a quirk.

Three days later, he received a letter in the mail stating that there was going to be a meeting with the principal for his 'uncalled for act of aggression towards another student'. His mother had to ask for the day off, as her presence was mandatory.

Izuku immediately called Ms. Tenoh and told her the day and general time he was given.

He kept his anticipation of what was going to happen as quiet as he could, but there was no mistaking the _cheer_ in his mood.

It certainly irked the principal and his homeroom teacher. Inko seemed to realize something else was going on, so she kept her silence on the matter.

Suddenly Izuku's phone buzzed, and he got up without being told.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Midoriya? We're not finished with you yet!" snapped the principal. He was not pleased Izuku had injured their 'prized student' to the point Bakugo had a matching concussion to the one he had given him almost two months ago.

Izuku opened the door...revealing a particularly vindictive Haruka Tenoh, in full professional mode. Her assistant Michiru was right next to her, looking deeply disturbed by what she had seen simply by walking to the principal's office.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Ms. Tenoh, I'm Mr. Midoriya's attorney."

"Attorney?" repeated his teacher dumbly.

"Yes, in the civil suit against this school and against one Bakugo Katsuki for quirk violence against others," she said calmly.

"WHAT?!"

"And before I forget, here's my paperwork to fully withdraw from the school in favor of online schooling," said Izuku. It was all properly filled out, and he had convinced his mother that it was a form for a school trip two weeks before he finally acted out against Bakugo's tyranny.

The principal stared dumbly at the paperwork, then at the attorney who looked far too amused at what was going on.

"Surely there's some way we can resolve this peacefully...there's no reason to involve the courts," he said, trying to salvage the situation.

"Oh, I think there's _every_ reason to involve the courts in this. From what I can see, this school is a complete disaster and has been deliberately leading a student with a dangerous quirk into the path of a villain without a second thought," said Michiru darkly. "All at the expense of someone who was helpless to defend themselves."

"Izuku?" said Inko. She didn't like where this was going at all.

"None of you investigated _why_ I was hospitalized with a fractured arm. You all took it at the word of Bakugo that it was an 'accident' rather than the side effect of him showing off his quirk illegally just to prove he could make a bigger explosion," said Izuku bitterly. "I'm tired of being his punching bag."

"We'll see you in court," promised Ms. Tenoh darkly.

As they were exiting the school, a particularly eager and vindictive blond appeared.

"They finally expel you, shitty Deku?"

Bakugo clearly didn't see Inko behind the two lawyers, or her deeply unhappy frown that appeared when she saw exactly how her son's former best friend spoke to him, even when in the presence of adults.

"Bakugo Katsuki?" said Ms. Tenoh, her expression carefully neutral. It wasn't _entirely_ the boy's fault, but he still had to take accountability for his actions.

Bakugo took one look at her and dismissed her as a pro hero.

"What do you want?" said Bakugo, barely containing his ego long enough to pretend civility.

Ms. Tenoh handed him the necessary paperwork.

"What's this?"

"You're being served. This is your official notice that my client is filing a civil suit in court against you for quirk violence against them. Just to let you know this is mostly a formality...regardless of whether you win the case or not you're still going to end up with a black mark on your record. UA takes a dim view of people who think nothing of using dangerous quirks like yours against others, regardless of the reason."

The reaction was immediate.

"What?! You can't do this to me! Do you have any idea what my quirk is?" snarled Bakugo.

"I could care less if you were All Might himself. Anyone who would use their quirk as brazenly as you did against my client needs a reality check on how the real world works," snapped Ms. Tenoh.

It was only then that Bakugo realized who else was there, and he paled slightly at the expression Izuku's mother was giving him. He had no doubt his own mother would be hearing of this incident before he got home from school.

Once they were home, Inko looked at her son with an ashamed expression on her face. Izuku hugged her.

"I'm sorry mom...but I was tired of the fact everyone ignored the fact that Bakugo was deliberately harassing me because I didn't have a quirk," said Izuku.

Inko cried.

"Izuku...can you forgive me?" she asked.

Izuku didn't answer, just kept hugging her. Inko took that as the answer it was.

Either way, once he went back to his room to calm down after the excitement of the day, she immediately picked up her phone and called her friend.

"Mi-chan, I just got back from the school and there's something you should know about your son," said Inko.

When Bakugo got home from school, his mother was there and she was absolutely _pissed_. Forget the way he behaved around the lawyer, she was absolutely furious he had been targeting another student...with the teacher's _blessing_ no less... with his quirk!


	29. Fulmination Chapter Two

**Just a heads's up, I _did_ give Izuku the Flash's speed in this one. It made far too much sense that he would figure out how to use lightning to speed himself up subtly instead of learning how to throw around massive bolts of lightning with how strict they are about public quirk use. **

* * *

Izuku didn't know how too explain it, but ever since he started that draining trick he found himself...changed.

Originally he felt a little stronger, as the hammer bestowed the power of Thor, and he always felt rather perky whenever a thunderstorm rolled in.

It wasn't until he started to channel the excess electricity he had been siphoning that he really picked up on it.

Specifically the fact that things around him seemed to...slow down for lack of a better term. It was subtle enough that he could practice it, but it had side effects. Namely his metabolism shot up considerably. What his mother was saving on her energy bill suddenly went to the food bill.

He found out the hard way that skipping out on meals made him pass out. As such he learned to invest in high calorie protein bars, and was snacking almost constantly.

And that was just to maintain a healthy weight!

Still, he was learning a lot about his new abilities and if he used the extra speed sparingly he was able to hide the change. His mother assumed he was just going through an unusual growth spurt, which made sense because he due for one.

It wasn't until Bakugo used his quirk Izuku and caused him to be sent to the hospital with a concussion and broken leg that things changed again. This time not for the better, as it would lead Izuku to using the darker side of his new abilities.

Coincidentally this would lead to him accidentally figuring out who "Blackout" was. The villain had been terrorizing the area for close to two years now and still the heroes had no idea who it was. From what he heard, the heroes had shifted focus from "new villain" to "new quirk that needed control".

Izuku was laid out flat on the hospital bed with a broken leg that was already healing at an accelerated rate, but because he was busy trying to keep his energy drain at a low rate so it wouldn't effect the hospital, it was going slowly enough to be unnoticed. He was lightly drowsing, but woke up almost immediately when he sensed something was very off.

It wasn't until later that he figured out what...and it pissed him off.

One of the doctors tried to use their quirk to make him believe to a subconscious level that he had _lost_ his leg or that it was damaged to the point that being a hero was now impossible for him. Izuku _really_ got pissed off when his mother was made to believe the same, because there was a defeated expression on her face that made him beyond angry that he was inflicting such a lie on her.

Izuku memorized the doctor's face, and made subtle inquiries to where the bastard lived. The nurses, believing his innocent lie about wanting to send the man a thank you card for 'trying', gave him a general area to work with.

So long as he sent a generic card, no one would suspect him for what he planned to do. Best of all, the jerk had given him the perfect cover story later.

Izuku waited a few days, and sent the card. Then he made a special trip to the area. Thanks to his accelerated speed (one of the most taxing aspects of his new ability, and the most costly in terms of energy and the fact his clothes couldn't handle the friction) he didn't need to take a train or bus to get there. It also made him impossible to identify.

He found the doctor easily enough, he recognized the fancy car.

Now for the distraction.

Izuku fried the circuit breaker, causing an instant blackout in the area. Mjolnir seemed almost eager to help.

The man angrily walked out, and left the door open rather carelessly. Izuku checked the place for anyone else...before sending a massive thunderbolt from above down and destroying his house. A second one crashed into the car, completely wrecking it.

Thanks to prior experience with "Blackout", the electric company had the lights on in fifteen minutes. By that point the devastation he caused was becoming evident, as the fire was too big for the man's rather small extinguisher to handle.

Izuku was already long gone before the power came back on, but he watched the reaction of everyone else from his webcam at home with dark satisfaction.

He knew it was illegal to use his ability like that, but the darker aspects of the man's quirk and the fact he used it on a minor _and_ his own mother really pissed him off. If he had no issues doing something like that, then what was to stop him from doing it to satisfy his darker urges on unsuspecting women?

As it turned out, his guess wasn't too far off the mark...during the investigation to find out who would target him specifically, the cops found discovered a large number of women who spoke up about him using his quirk on them without asking first.

On the plus side, he had a pretty good idea who Blackout was.

* * *

It had taken Loki far too long to track down the boy who had claimed his brother's hammer. To be fair, the boy was keeping his new abilities rather low key, which had made it more difficult to find him in a world filled with people who had unique abilities.

He had already found his idiot brother, but his memories were still sealed and he was too high profile, so it was too much trouble to confront him.

Besides, from what he saw, the fool had taken a hit from one of the 'villains' here and would need time to recover anyway one his memories returned.

The boy who had the hammer was practicing discreetly. A wise move considering how...restrictive...the world here was about abilities. From what he had seen with Heimdall, the boy was isolated, hated for not having any abilities.

Besides, the boy was showing cunning and common sense, especially with a potential rival who would take it ill if his former victim suddenly became stronger than him.

"You...are a very hard boy to track down."

The boy froze like a deer in headlights. Mjolnir hummed a bit, though it seemed the child was unaware he could summon the hammer to him directly.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously.

"I am Loki, of Asgard. And I came because we finally managed to track down who claimed my brother's hammer."

The boy tensed.

"Now...the only question is how to deal with you."

_A few hours later..._

Loki was inordinately pleased. The boy, Izuku, was a diamond in the rough. With the right teacher, he could become even stronger than Thor. The boy had already discovered several abilities that not even Thor had uncovered, though to be fair his brother was only ever concerned about smashing things or frying them with the hammer.

Izuku was learning control _without_ the use of Mjolnir, hence why he had Loki's full interest.

The boy was lonely, a scholar who delved into the mysteries of the unique powers present on this planet without being born with one himself. And his skills of observation were almost terrifying in a way.

Loki just _knew_ if he took the boy on as an apprentice, he could become an even greater sorcerer than even Loki himself.

Besides, he knew his mother Frigga would adore the boy to bits.

_A few days later..._

"How did you convince your mother to allow you to leave with a complete stranger?"

"You said that you could teach me magic. There must be a spell or potion that can reverse the influence of another, right?" said Izuku quietly.

"There are a few," said Loki. "But it depends on what influence you're seeking to remove, and why."

"About three months ago, some doctor used his quirk on my mother to make her believe that I was permanently disabled because one of my tendons in my legs was damaged beyond repair due to an accident. Not only did no one bother to _investigate_ why I was in the hospital to begin with, but he also convinced the teachers to spread the lie as well, which means everyone now believes my chances of becoming hero are destroyed. I think it's because of the changes I'm going through that I was spared, but I can't stand the fact he did that."

"I see. In that case there should be a way to reverse it, but it would help to know what medium he used."

"He uses his breath. I may have gone after him when I realized what he did, and during the investigation it was found out that he had used it illegally on others as well. There was a request on TV for anyone who was exposed to him in close proximity to submit to an exam if they ever did or felt something off about him because his quirk allows him to implant suggestions by lowering their defenses against subliminal messaging via his breath. It was some sort of toxin or other chemical," said Izuku promptly.

"And he was working in a professional capacity around others?" said Loki incredulous.

"There was a lot of questioning about whether he obtained the license illegally as well. The investigation is still on-going," said Izuku.

"That narrows it down considerably. Since you won't have much luck reading our writing, I'll look around the library while you're learning with mother," said Loki.

He knew that library backwards and forwards. He could find it faster than the child could.

"Um...I can read a little of it, if you're talking about Norse runes," said Izuku, timidly raising his hand.

Loki stared at him.

"I was curious as to what the writing on the hammer said, so I looked up reference books, but it still took me a while because I had to find other books to translate the first ones since there were none in Japanese..." rambled Izuku nervously.

"Don't worry, teaching you to read our language is going to be among one of the first things on our list," said Loki.

Somehow, that didn't feel comforting to him.

The bifrost opened, and they disappeared. Izuku wouldn't be back for at least a year and a half. And he wouldn't be the same when he did.

* * *

_In Asgard..._

Izuku was in awe of Asgard, as most people would be when they first saw it. Though he looked askance at the horses, he still managed to stay on it until they reached the palace.

Odin was very...imposing, and downright scary. Izuku managed to keep his mumbling habit from showing up. Frigga...had a more maternal, friendly appearance.

Izuku felt like he was in a daze during the entire ceremony, he could only hope he didn't embarrass himself completely.

It was only during the feast that he felt remotely at ease.

Loki smirked. He had noticed the amount of food Izuku could put away after practicing that speed trick of his. He also knew that Asgardian feasts were often packed full of food, and that Volstagg tended to put away quite a bit.

"I wager the boy will out-eat Volstagg," said Loki suddenly to the warrior's three.

"That slip of a child?" scoffed Volstagg. "He wouldn't be able to finish off a single boar, much less beat me!"

"Are you willing to make the wager then? Loser has to pay the food bill of whomever wins for the next week," said Loki.

"Deal," said Sif. All of them shook on it, in front of witnesses. This was going to be greatly entertaining.

For Loki.

Frigga wandered over to her son.

"What are you planning?"

"Izuku has developed an odd habit of 'borrowing' electricity from devices around him. Since he cannot take it from his normal sources, he will have to do so with the hammer. It's a bit more difficult than normal, and he doesn't carry it with him regularly. I believe doing so will speed up the process of his body converting to that of a full Asgardian."

"I'm sensing a catch," said Frigga smiling.

"His metabolism speeds up to inhuman rates. He had to restrict his training to once a week because his mother couldn't keep up with the food bill, and if he doesn't eat large quantities of food he passes out," said Loki. "They put special additives to his normal food just to keep him at a healthy weight."

"So you're trying to encourage him to not hold back and make Thor's friends suffer a bit," said Frigga.

"The sooner he learns to regulate his full ability to sustainable levels, the faster he'll progress in training. Right now his body is still converting because he was unable to push himself to his proper limits. He'll have no such issue here."

Izuku had held himself back out of consideration for his mother and the family expenses. Loki would have to break him of that habit once he settled in.

Asgardians rarely needed an excuse to bet for fun, so when Loki's wager became known everyone started placing bets.

Loki was already cackling at the killing he was making by betting on Izuku...even if he didn't beat Volstagg today, there was a strong chance he would do so after training, which was what he was counting on.

Izuku felt a little embarrassed, being at the center of attention like this, but quickly got over it in favor of the food before him. He had gotten used to being constantly hungry, but had learned to ignore it. Now that he was given permission to eat until his stomach felt about to burst, he was going to take advantage of it. Besides, the food was really good and he was starving since Loki had him demonstrate his ability before they arrived in Asgard.

Volstagg looked a bit ill. To be fair he had eaten a large amount of food _before_ the feast, and had thought this a simple wager. He never thought the boy could match him, let alone beat him in an eating contest.

To the shock of the onlookers and the dark amusement of Loki, Volstagg ended up being the one to bow out first with a groan.

Loki made very sure the people who bet against him settled up first. Izuku finished his last plate (which was the second one after Volstagg bowed out), before calling it quits. He looked at his hands with dismay... there weren't enough napkins in the world to handle the amount of food he had just put away.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," said Loki smugly. Frigga hid a smile at the horrified expressions of the Warrior's Three, since they had agreed to foot the food bill for the kid outside the palace.

The full stomach and the sheer amount of excitement of the day caused Izuku to be out like a light the second his head hit the pillow. It was really awkward wearing such nice clothes, or being in a bed far bigger than the one he was used to.

This was going to be a long six months, which was how long Loki had told Inko the initial training would last. She was so upset about Izuku's original dream being crushed she didn't dare say no to him trying something else.


	30. The Perpetually Lost Hero Chapter One

It said a lot in a society dominated by those with unique abilities, that the government itself finally threw it's arms up in frustration and came up with a special clause to deal with a certain clan.

The Hibiki family were a clan of highly influential merchants and the odd martial artist. They had a knack towards finding rare or obscure items that sold at a rather impressive price on the open market, and those that practiced martial arts were all highly skilled.

The problem was that they had a family curse, one that drove outsiders up the wall in frustration. You see, the Hibiki family had the worst sense of direction known to mankind, and to date no navigational tool could make sense of their travels.

It often started young and only got worse as the children got older.

Which made it rather frustrating for the educational system to deal with, as it was hard to test a child that could disappear to another district within an hour and would take _days_ to return.

As such, the government created a special "Hibiki Clause" for any school unlucky enough to have a confirmed Hibiki in their students.

One such student would take an entirely different path because of this, all because of a series of potentially unrelated events that happened in a short period of time.

* * *

Inko was not in a good mood. She had been unhappy for Izuku's sake that he wouldn't inherit a quirk...just not for the reasons the doctor seemed to believe.

After stumbling across her son looking very confused about being in a closet instead of the bathroom he was heading for, she sighed.

It looked like she would have to call the clan after all. She had been hoping it would skip him like it had her. No one was sure why those born with quirks in the clan could navigate like everyone else, but it had been confirmed that those without were more often than not hit hard with the directional issue the clan was rather infamous for.

Inko waited until Izuku was sound asleep before she called the clan head.

Knowing her luck, it would be at least a week or so for him to show up, if his wife didn't assist him.

_Five days later..._

A small black piglet arrived at her doorstep. Inko could show only relief at the headband wrapped around it's neck.

"Ryoga-sama, it's a good thing you finally came."

The piglet squealed in annoyance. Ever since he married, he had been stuck as the clan head. On the plus side, it meant he got to help hundreds of kids with bad directional sense like him.

Inko was lucky...the curse translated into her quirk and made things take the long way to reach her when she used it. Her actual sense of direction was relatively normal, if a tad scatterbrained.

Ryoga, once he was clothed again and human, took one look at Izuku and sighed.

"He's got it almost as bad as me," he announced.

"Mama, who is this?" asked Izuku. To be fair, his mind was on how Ryoga turned from a pig to a human and why water was involved.

"Izuku honey, this is Ryoga...he's the head of Mama's birth family."

Ryoga bent down to eye level with Izuku. The boy found he liked the odd man a lot for that.

"Tell me Chibi, what do you want to do in life?"

"I want to be a hero like All Might! But...the teachers keep telling me it impossible because I don't have a quirk like Kaachan's," said Izuku.

Ryoga quirked an eyebrow at Inko.

"Kaachan is Bakugo Katsuki, Izuku's friend. His mother and I were classmates," she elaborated.

"And the father?" asked Ryoga, meaning her husband.

"Died overseas shortly after Izuku's diagnosis," said Inko, her eyes flat. She was still unsure if her husband took that job _because_ Izuku had inherited the family curse or if he blamed her for the fact their son didn't have some fancy trick.

Ryoga looked at the hidden fire inside Izuku and smirked.

"Tell me chibi, how would you like to prove those idiot teachers of yours wrong and show up the heroes in a way they can't charge you for?"

Izuku looked intrigued, so Ryoga (lead by Inko) carried him to a small clearing outside the city. One look at how Ryoga completely destroyed a boulder simply by poking it had him hooked and listening to his every word.

"This is Ki. It's a internal energy present in all living beings, but it takes a lot of hard work and practice for people to use it. The Destruction Point is very dangerous, but it can't be used against living beings...it is however very good at clearing paths and construction, which means you could get into a building where a villain is without them being able to stop you and save people. Best of all since it's not part of a quirk and is available to anyone with training, you can use it however you like so long as no one gets hurt since the laws only cover quirk use."

The government _did_ acknowledge the existence of extreme martial artists but it couldn't regulate them like they could quirks. This was mostly due to the fact that it took a _lot_ of training to get to that point, and most of those who did so were often quirkless people trying to gain their own edge.

Besides, after seeing the damage a few well trained martial artists (cough Ranma cough) could do against villains, the government had come up with an agreement to stay out of their madness in exchange for provisional hero licenses.

If only so they didn't have to deal with the headaches involved with regulating them.

Izuku, when told that if he trained hard enough with Ryoga and his friends would get a provisional license even if he didn't have a quirk, had agreed on the spot.

Sure, it meant he'd have to deal with people helping him with his horrible sense of direction, and occasionally getting lost as often as Ryoga had in his youth, but if it meant becoming a hero like All Might it would be worth it in his eyes.

(He would sorely regret that decision many times in the coming years at the level of hellish training he was put through.)

* * *

"Do you have everything?" asked Inko.

"Yes Mama," said Izuku, looking considerably more cheerful than if he had stayed.

Eight years had passed, and Izuku was glad for the reprieve. While the Nerima Wrecking crew would show up from time to time to test him, he had passed the bare minimum of what they considered "acceptable base standards" and was officially recognized as a martial artist by the government.

He wouldn't receive his provisional license yet, as he was still very much a minor, but he was okay with waiting three years for it.

There was however, one small addition to the family.

"Remember to keep Oreo's leash on your wrist at all time!" said his mother.

"Arf!"

Oreo was a black and white mixed breed that was specially bred by the Hibiki clan to help younger members reach school and home in a timely manner. They were trained to lead their humans without fail, and it had shown marginal success in allowing them to attend school regularly.

Officially they were registered therapy animals. Unofficially they were just there to help the Hibiki clan's horrible sense of direction.

Izuku slipped Oreo's leash around his wrist. It was specially reinforced due to the increased strength he had, and against potential villain attacks.

"Have a fun day, sweetie!" said Inko. Izuku looked so much happier than he had after the diagnosis.

"I'll try, Mama!"

_In the school_

"Everyone, this is Hibiki Izuku. He'll be starting class with us today. Due to certain circumstances, he may need a minder to get to school," said the teacher.

Izuku's eyes landed on Bakugo. He had done a bit of scouting, thanks to the scrying Kon Lon had taught him, and he knew Bakugo's ego was running rampant without a proper rival. He needed a reality check, before his actions made him a villain rather than the hero they were expecting.

Everything was relatively boring...right up until the PE class. As a Hibiki who specialized in martial arts, he was automatically _exempt_ from class.

"What's the matter, Deku, are you too pathetic to handle a simple PE class?" sneered Bakugo. "Then again, a quirkless loser like you wouldn't amount to much anyway!"

Izuku gave him a flat look.

"Sensei, would it be alright to show everyone why I'm exempt from class?" he called out.

The teacher looked around and found a suitable demonstration. He pointed at the nearby wall which was easy enough to fix once destroyed. Izuku calmly walked towards it, with Oreo's leash still attached to his wrist.

Bakugo and the others watched, most of them with a superior look because Izuku's quirkless status was well known thanks to the blond, as Izuku calmly took a stance.

What happened next shut most of them up about how 'weak' and 'useless' Izuku was.

Izuku calmly gathered his Ki...and used the destruction point to completely _obliterate_ the section of the wall.

"What...the fuck," said Bakugo, staring incredulous.

"Thank you for limiting the destruction, Hibiki-san," said the teacher.

"What the fuck?!" said Bakugo.

"Little know fact, those of the Hibiki clan are automatically exempt from physical education classes if they're registered as martial artists. It was one of the concessions the government made since 'extreme' martial artists would make normal school competitions look like an absolute joke...especially since the majority of them don't actually _have_ quirks," said Izuku smiling. "Mostly so the schools in question can't bring out an extreme martial artist as a dark horse and sweep the competition unfairly, or worse, instigate the madness certain styles bring."

"You're still a quirkless loser!" snarled Bakugo. Seeing that sort of strength from someone he had learned to dismiss thanks to the adults around him shook him to his core.

Before Bakugo could even react, he found himself flying before a hard painful thud on the ground. Everyone was quiet.

"You treat everyone like trash because you have a fancy trick that the adults praise to ridiculous levels. You don't even bother to train it correctly and use it whenever the mood suits you so long as the adults around you turn a blind eye. Well I've come back and I'm here to remind you that you are in fact human, and that there is always someone stronger than you are waiting in the wings," said Izuku calmly.

Bakugo was visibly pissed. He had become so used to the idea of being the top dog in his limited world that the idea of someone without a fancy ability like his own coming in and taking over had never occurred to him.

Only time would tell if he would come out stronger for this, or become something far worse.

* * *

_Two weeks later..._

"Where the fuck is Deku?" demanded Bakugo. And why wasn't the teacher calling him out on it?

"Hibiki-san will be unavailable for class for a few days," said the teacher.

"Why, is he sick?" asked one of the girls.

Izuku's popularity went up exponentially for putting Bakugo in his place, and the fact he wasn't a complete ass like the blond. It never ceased to piss Bakugo off either.

"No, he's a Hibiki. It seems he went to use the restroom and forgot to follow the guideline," said the teacher tiredly.

Dead silence.

"How does him going to the bathroom result in him being excused from school for several days?" asked another student, baffled.

"The Hibiki clan are notorious for having a terrible sense of direction. As such the government has certain rules in place so that they might graduate on time," explained the teacher. "His dog is actually there to insure he makes it to school without getting lost. They usually show up on their own sooner or later."

Everyone stared at the teacher incredulous.

"Exactly how bad is their sense of direction that the government has to step in?"

_With Izuku..._

"Where am I?!" he moaned to himself.

"_You're in China. I thought you completed the bare basics of training?"_ said Kon Lon.

Izuku flinched at her voice. It was a reflex, really.

"_Great...which means I'll need at least three days to get home," _sighed Izuku in Mandarin.

Due to his age, Izuku learned Chinese relatively fast, and Kon Lon had insured he would become something of a natural polygot, if only to make sure he never fell into the same mistakes Ranma had due to the fact he only spoke Japanese in his youth. He eventually _learned_ Chinese, but a lot of things could have been avoided had he understood the language around him.

Considering he would likely end up traveling quite a bit due to his family's curse, teaching him as many languages as possible was simply common sense.

Kon Lon had a slightly evil expression. Izuku felt chills go down his back at the sight of it.

"_In the meantime, I can test your skill level. It wouldn't do for an honorary Amazon to give a bad showing, now would it?"_

Izuku did something that would have his mother appalled.

"_Fuck..."_ he said out loud. Kon Lon cackled at his expression.


End file.
